Philippines: Cement industry sales in 2014 increased by 9.6% year-on-year, according to the Cement Manufacturers' Association of the Philippines (CeMAP) president Ernesto M Ordoñez.
Ordoñez said that local market sales reached 21.3Mt in 2014, compared to 19.4Mt in 2013. Sales for the fourth quarter of 2014 jumped by 15.7% to 5.2Mt, up from 4.5Mt in 2013. The increase in sales of cement producers was supported by the continuous growth of construction projects. Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that construction activities in January - September 2014 amounted to US$6.17bn, 39% higher than the US$4.45bn in the same period of 2013. Non-residential projects had the largest amount of construction projects at US$3.25bn, while residential projects were pegged at US$2.45bn in the first nine months of 2014.
