Colombian dispatches declined 8.4 per cent to 1.002Mt in December 2024 when compared with 1.094Mt delivered in December 2023, said the country’s statistics office, DANE. Of this total, bagged deliveries slipped by eight per cent YoY while bulk dispatches were down 9.2 per cent YoY in December 2024.
In terms of market segments, off-take by ready-mix concrete companies saw the largest single drop, by 11.4 per cent YoY, while construction companies and contractors reduced their purchases by 10 per cent YoY in December 2024. Sales to the retail/wholesale segment declined by 6.2 per cent YoY.
Colombia’s cement plants produced 1.145Mt in December last year, which represented a 11.3 per cent drop YoY from 1.291Mt.
January-December 2024
The domestic market contracted by 6.1 per cent YoY to 12.11Mt in the January-December 2024 period from 12.894Mt in 2023. Bagged deliveries fell by 6.6 per cent YoY while bulk dispatches were down by 5.1 per cent.
The largest single contraction was reported in the ready-mix concrete segment, where sales fell by 8.5 per cent. Dispatches to construction companies and contractors declined by 6.4 per cent YoY while to the retail/wholesale sector they slipped by 3.4 per cent YoY.
The markets of Quindio, Valle del Cauca and Norte de Santander were the only ones to see growth – 4.7, 3.4 and 1.3 per cent, respectively, when compared with the previous year.
In the capital area of Bogotá sales slipped by 1.9 per cent, but the country’s second-largest market of Antioquia’s contracted by 8.6 per cent. Cundinamarca dispatches saw a 7.7 per cent drop while Atlántico sales dropped 12.1 per cent YoY. In Santander the drop was 19.8 per cent – the largest with exception of Boyacá, where the market shrank by 24.6 per cent. In Bolívar and Nariño, dispatches were down by 7.9 per cent and 9.8 per cent.
Cement production saw a 5.5 per cent drop to 13.424Mt in 2024 from 14.211Mt in 2023.
