Bolivian cement consumption to rise by 10% in 2012

The Bolivian Institute of Cement and Concrete (IBCH) has claimed that it expects domestic cement consumption to rise by 10% in 2012. The institute, however, warns that this predicted increase might be negatively impacted by adverse global economic conditions.

According to the manager of the IBCH, Marcelo Alfaro, the estimated rise in demand is due to Bolivia's favourable economic environment where low interest housing credit is easily available/ According to Alfaro "All of that makes people excited to construct buildings, also the country has a certain amount of income from raw materials and gas, which creates investment in infrastructure projects by the central government, state governments and municipalities."

While domestic conditions might be ideally suited for a rise in demand, external economic factors could have a knock-on effect and cause any rise in demand to fall short of the 10% predicted by the IBCH.

According to some sources, cement consumption rose by 9.96% in 2011, in comparison to figures from 2010. Alfaro claims that this figure has been held in recent years and so is also expected for 2012.

Despite the fact that the Bolivian Chamber of Construction has raised concerns over being able to fully finance public projects, Alfaro said "We believe that the private sector will continue the expansion and the state is also working at an important pace."

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/the-americas/20012012/bolivian_cement_consumption_to_rise_in_2012/