Cement consumption in Spain declined 6.7 per cent in October 2023 to 1,171,629t when compared with October 2022, according to Oficemen, the Spanish cement association. Exports were down 10.6 per cent YoY to 430,421t in October, representing the fourth-consecutive month of decline.

In the first 10 months of 2023 cement demand edged up by two per cent to 12,126,694t. Exports contracted four per cent YoY to 4.5Mt in the 10M23.

“From the sector we cannot help but continue to observe with concern this negative trend, which is worse than expected, and which has already accumulated five consecutive months of decline. However, it is likely that this new fall has been influenced, along with the climate of economic and political uncertainty to which we have already alluded in recent months, by the rain effect. We must take into account the high volume of rainfall experienced in Spain last October which, according to data from the AEMET, has been the third rainiest so far in the 21st century," explains Aniceto Zaragoza, general director of Oficemen.