Cement consumption in Spain closed 2019 at 14,254,420 tonnes, 5.9% more than in 2018, representing growth of close to 800,000 tonnes, according to the latest data published in the Cement Statistics. Despite closing the year in positive territory, cement consumption has halved its growth rate in the second half of the year, largely due to the slowdown in the real estate market.
After an upward trend during the first six months of the year, when growth was close to 11% and consumption gained 804,000 tonnes, the second half of the year has been characterised by a stagnation of the figures, even with a slight drop in the cumulative July to December of 0.2%, compared to the same period of 2018.
Oficemen estimates that this slowdown will continue into 2020, a year which is expected to close with a growth in cement consumption of around 2%.
The data for December, a month in which cement consumption fell by more than 10% compared to December 2018, has weighed down the accumulated growth at the end of the previous month by almost one percentage point. December has therefore become the fourth month to close negative in 2019, with a total of 886,133 tonnes, a fall of more than 100,000 tonnes compared to December of the previous year, the sharpest drop that has occurred in the year.
Slowdown in cement and housing consumption
With public works practically at a standstill in Spain, the main driver of cement consumption in recent years has been construction. However, the latest data on the housing sector seem to run parallel to cement consumption and point to a slowdown in this sub-sector as well. The housing sales and purchases up to November also indicate that 2019 will close with the first decline since 2013.
