Cement consumption in Spain rose by 5.2 % in January to 769,838 metric tons, 37,834 more than a year ago, according to an announcement today by the Spanish Cement Manufacturers Association (Oficemen).
This increase comes after cement consumption closed out 2014 at 10,788,547 metric tons, which represented a slight increase of 0.4% compared to the figures recorded a year earlier and also marked the first growth in this indicator since it began to decline in 2008 as a result of the crisis.
Although cement consumption increased in January compared to the same month in 2014, it remains lower than the levels recorded in the first month of the year between 2005 and 2013.
However, even though cement consumption rose again in 2014 for the first time since the start of the crisis, the cement industry continues to face a weak outlook, with consumption remaining at 50-year lows.
For this year, Oficemen anticipated a scenario of moderate growth, albeit with high volatility, alternating between months with negative and positive figures.
In mid-December, the cement industry association indicated that Spain will not reach the target of 25 million metric tons until 2022, as noted by its president, Isidoro Miranda.
