National cement associations in South America have begun to release preliminary statistical results for November 2012. There was positive news from Brazil, with domestic cement sales increasing by 3.8% y/y to reach 5.8 million t. Likewise, accumulated sales volumes in the first 11 months of the year grew by 7.6% y/y to 63.2 million t. According to ASOCEM, cement sales within Peru came in at approximately 891 700 t in November, with despatch levels up 16.62% y/y for the period of January – November 2012.
However, the outlook was less positive in Uruguay where cement sales fell on both a month-to-month and year-on-year basis. In Argentina, over 982 100 t of cement was sold in November, including exports. This is 7.8% lower than in November 2011. Domestic sales volumes dropped 8.6% y/y. However, at almost 959 600 t, local sales levels had risen 0.5% from October 2012.
Edited from various sources by Louise Fordham.