Brazilian cement sales slip 1% in November

Cement sales in Brazil slipped 1.3 per cent to 5.25Mt in November 2023 from 5.318Mt in November 2022, according to the Brazilian cement association, SNIC.

The southeast, the country’s largest market, saw sales fall by 1.1 per cent to 2.417Mt in November 2023 when compared with the year-ago period, when sales reached 2.443Mt. However, in the northeast deliveries were up 3.2 per cent YoY to 1.102Mt in November 2023 from 1.102Mt in November 2022. The south reported an 8.4 per cent drop to 0.861Mt from 0.94Mt over the same period while the central-west saw a 1.1 per cent decline to 0.613Mt from 0.62Mt. In the north, the country’s smallest market sales advanced by four per cent YoY to 0.257Mt in November 2023 from 0.247Mt.

Extreme weather conditions with above-average temperatures and rainfall and drought in some Brazilian regions, combined with the unstable macroeconomic environment, continue to affect the Brazilian cement industry, according to SNIC.

“The combination of high interest rates and debt that reached 76.6 per cent of Brazilian families, despite the slight drop in recent months, negatively impacted family consumption. Sales of construction materials at retail have shown an accumulated decline of 2.4 per cent up to October. Reflecting this scenario, combined with a slow recovery in the population's income, real estate launches and financing have been falling.
“Consumer confidence in November saw a slight decline and settled down after the sharp drop in October. However, between income groups, perceptions are in opposite directions. While the lower class is more pessimistic, the middle class shows recovery and the upper class shows stability. These differences are related to greater financial and employment difficulties,” said the association.

Exports fell by 68.8 per cent YoY to 10,000t in November 2023 from 32,000t in November 2022.