According to the AFCP, they were made up of 1,212,814 tons destined for the domestic market (with a rise of 9.2% in the year-on-year comparison) and 4,982 for export (53.2% drop compared to September 2021).
Since there were no imports of cement (as in the last 45 months), domestic consumption was once again equal to local dispatch.
The provisional projections of the AFCP for all of 2022 show a level of 13.2 million tons (100,000 more than the forecasts of August) which, if materialized, would represent a growth of 8.9% in relation to 2021 and, in addition, , the highest volume in the last five years.
The evolution of dispatches coincides with that of economic activity in general and that of the construction industry in particular, which showed a decrease from the devaluation of the peso started in the second quarter of 2018, with a special impact on the real estate market.
As construction was not included among the essential sectors at the start of the pandemic restrictions, cement shipments fell sharply in the first months of that stage.
However, as the restrictions were loosened, they showed an upturn that was reflected in uninterrupted growth between September 2020 and December 2021, partially interrupted in January of this year.
In April and May 2021, when some restrictions on construction activity were restored amid the increase in Covid-19 cases, shipments showed monthly declines, although they maintained the positive year-on-year trend.
As it is one of the main inputs in the sector, the increase in cement shipments is taken as an advance of the data on the general activity of the construction sector, which the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (Indec) will release on November 8 next.
Last week, the statistical agency reported the conjuncture indicators of construction for August, with a year-on-year growth of 7.6% but registered a decrease of 2.1% in relation to July, which represents its biggest drop in 5 months .
Regarding the expectations of sales in the internal market of the industrial sector up to and including November, 31.1% of the entrepreneurs interviewed by INDEC considered that it will increase, against 20.9% who anticipated a decrease, while the remaining 48 % did not anticipate major variants.
Source: Ambito
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