Moroccan cement dispatches down 11% in September

Deliveries by members of Morocco’s cement association APC (Asment Temara, Ciments de l’Atlas, Ciments du Maroc and LafargeHolcim Maroc) have decreased by 11 per cent YoY to 1,045,795t in September 2023 from 1,174,683t in September 2022, according to the Ministry of National Territory Planning, Land Planning, Housing and City Policy.

Dispatches to the infrastructure segment of the construction market increased by 31.5 per cent to 73,160t in September 2023 from 55,619t in September 2022 but were unable to offset declines in other sectors. Supply to the building segment fell by 18.2 per cent YoY to 37,442t in September 2023 from 45,771t in the year-ago period while off-take by the retail segment was down 17.3 per cent YoY to 610,383t from 738,426t in September 2022. The ready-mix concrete segment reduced its requirement by 5.2 per cent YoY to 224,054t from 236,307t in September 2022. Prefabricated products showed a 2.2 per cent uptick to 100,756t in September 2023 from 98,559t in September 2022.

January-September 2023
In the January-September 2023 period, deliveries by APC members slipped 2.1 per cent to 9.186Mt from 9.383Mt in the 9M22.

The country’s largest market, the retail segment saw a 3.6 per cent YoY drop to 5.588Mt in the 9M23 from 5.795Mt in the year-ago period. The ready-mix concrete segment, the second-largest customer, reported off-take down by 1.2 per cent to 1.845Mt in the 9M23 from 1.868Mt in the 9M22. Sales to the prefabricated product segment increased by 2.8 per cent YoY to 892,233t in the 9M23 from 867,971t in the year-ago period while significant gains in sales were also made in the infrastructure segment, where dispatches were up 16.1 per cent YoY to 511,485t from 440,414t. The building sector, the country’s smallest construction market, reduced its requirement by 15.1 per cent to 349,885t in the 9M23 from 412,163t in the 9M22.