Last year’s dispatches marked the worst data since the AFCP reported this information (2019). The paralysis of public works generated havoc in the sector.
Cement shipments fell in all months of 2024, in interannual terms, and accumulated a collapse of 23.9% throughout last year. It happened within the framework of the paralysis of public works and the deep crisis that the construction sector went through, mainly in the first months of Javier Milei’s Government.
According to data from the Association of Portland Cement Manufacturers (AFCP), Last December, 764,708 tons were shipped, 5.4% less than in the same month of 2023. Likewise, the figure was 11.9% lower than that of November 2024, although in this case the decrease has a close connection with seasonal issues; Discounting this factor, economist Salvador Vitelli estimated a slight monthly improvement of 0.7%.
With these numbers, the annual cumulative result resulted in a shipment of 9,494,332 tons, the lowest figure in the series reported by AFCPwhich begins in 2019. In terms of foreign trade in cement, exports totaled about 61,157 tons annually (-0.6% year-on-year), while imports represented only about 4,698 tons, although with strong growth of almost 80%.
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Matías Cattaruzzi, Adcap analyst, remarked in his X account that “with over stock, high price construction and without public works remains at a minimum.”
It is worth remembering that construction was the sector most affected by the recession that worsened with the devaluation of December 2023 and the path that the Executive Branch took to reduce the fiscal deficit. From the peak of August 2023, and until September 2024, the sector lost more than 88,000 registered jobs. Furthermore, the latest data from INDEC on its activity showed a collapse of 24.5% year-on-year last October.
Source: Ambito
