Brazilian cement market expands 1% in May

Cement sales in Brazil (excluding imports) increased by 1.2 per cent to 5.56Mt in May 2023, when compared with 5.494Mt in May 2022, according to the Brazilian cement association, SNIC.

The northern market saw the biggest increase, by 8.3 per cent YoY, to 234,000t, followed by the south, where the uptick was 3.9 per cent YoY to 975,000t. The country’s largest sales region, the southeast reported a 3.9 per cent expansion of its sales to 2,647,000t. However, in the northeast, sales were down 1.4 per cent to 1,033,000t while in the central-west a 0.9 per cent decline to 671,000t was reported.

Exports fell by 35.3 per cent YoY to 22,000t in May 2023 from 34,000t in May 2022.

January-May 2023
In the first five months of 2023 domestic dispatches declined 2.2 per cent YoY to 24.899Mt from 25.448Mt in the 5M22, according to SNIC. High indebtedness and default of households, the high unemployment rate as well as a slow recovery of wages, aggravated by economic uncertainties were the key causes of this market contraction, said SNIC. There has been a difficulty in accessing credit, with high interest rates, leading to a drop in building material sales.  There was also a fall in real estate launches by 30.2 per cent in the 1Q23 with an even greater decline in the Minha Casa Minha Vida housing programme, where there was a YoY drop of 41.8 per cent.

“The persistence of the high basic interest rate penalizes the civil construction chain, not only in sales, but also in the generation of jobs, income and in the resumption of works for Brazil's desirable return to growth,” said SNIC President, Paulo Camillo Penna.

In the southeast, deliveries were down 1.7 per cent YoY to 11.623Mt in the 5M23 from 11.829Mt, while in the northeast there was a 1.2 per cent decrease to 5.027Mt in the January-May 2023 period from 5.086Mt in the year-ago period. In the south, sales were down 2.4 per cent YoY to 4.385Mt from 4.491Mt in the 5M22. The central-west reported deliveries of 2.815Mt, down 5.4 per cent YoY from 2.976Mt in the 5M22. In the north, the country’s smallest market, dispatches fell by 1.6 per cent YoY to 1.049Mt in the 5M23 from 1.066Mt.

Exports from Brazil saw a 45.5 per cent YoY drop to 97,000t in the January-May 2023 period when compared with 178,000t in the 5M22.