Cement dispatches in Colombia declined by 3.6 per cent YoY in October 2024 to 1.074Mt from 1.114Mt in October 2023, reports the country’s statistics agency, DANE. Bagged cement dispatches were down five per cent YoY while bulk dispatches slipped by 0.8 per cent YoY in October 2024.
Sales to construction companies and contractors increased by 4.2 per cent YoY but ready-mix companies reduced their off-take by 8.1 per cent YoY in October 2024. Sales to the wholesale/retail segment were down by 1.8 per cent YoY.
Sales in Cundimarca were down by 12.6 per cent YoY while sales in Santander saw an 11.1 per cent drop in October. The market in Bogotá expanded by 3.3 per cent while dispatches to Antioquia slipped by 0.7 per cent YoY. In Valle del Cauca dispatches increased by 4.2 per cent. Atlántico sales were down by 4.9 per cent YoY in October 2024.
Output from domestic cement plants fell by 6.4 per cent YoY to 1.181Mt in October 2024 from 1.262Mt in the year-ago period.
January-October 2024
In the January-October 2024 period cement dispatches decreased by 5.7 per cent YoY to 10.092Mt from 10.697Mt in the 10M23.
Production in the 10M24 period was down 5.5 per cent YoY to 11.157Mt from 11.808Mt in the 10M23. Bagged cement dispatches decreased by 6.3 per cent YoY while bulk dispatches fell by 4.3 per cent YoY.
Sales to the retail/wholesale segment edged down by three per cent YoY but sales to construction companies and contractors were down by 6.5 per cent YoY in the 10M24. Concrete companies reduced their purchases by 7.1 per cent YoY.
In the January-October 2024 period, sales to Cundinamarca dropped by 11.2 per cent YoY and affected 10M24 sales the most. The market contractions in Colima and Antioquia of 17.4 and 3.1 per cent, respectively, followed. The Bogotá area saw dispatches increase by 0.2 per cent while in Valle del Cauca sales fell by 3.3 per cent YoY in the 10M24. In Atlántico the market contracted by nine per cent YoY in the 10M24.
