Spain: Cement consumption has increased by 11.5% year-on-year in April 2024, reaching 1.3Mt, which is 136,000t more than April 2023, according to the latest statistics published by the Cement Manufacturers Association (Oficemen).
For the first four months of 2024, cement consumption amounted to 4.65Mt, marking a year-on-year decline of 4.5% compared to the same period in 2023. This represents a loss of 218,000t. Over the last 12 months (May 2023 - April 2024), cement consumption also fell by 4.5%, with total consumption standing at 14.3Mt, 672,700t less than the previous period.
Exports fell nearly 24% in April, amounting to 387,500t. For the year to date, from January to April 2024, exports have reached 1.45Mt, a decrease of 25.3% compared to the same period in 2023. Over the last 12 months, exports have dropped below 5Mt, nearly 1Mt less than the previous year.
Oficemen's general manager, Aniceto Zaragoza, said "This is the first positive month after ten months of decline. However, this percentage growth was influenced by the calendar effect, as this April had more working days due to Easter being in March, not April as last year. In fact, the average daily consumption figures, which are more sensitive to the number of working days, show a decline of 8.8%."
