MADRID: The figures for the first quarter of 2015 show that demand for cement in Spain rose by 8.5% to just over 2.5 million tons.
It had already been forecast that an upturn in demand was likely to occur in 2015 after new record low totals were recorded last year, with demand at the same levels as in the 1960’s but nonetheless confirmation of this trend will be welcomed with open arms, not only by cement producers but by the whole of the construction sector. By implication the figures are also good news for the property market in Spain: if demand for new housing is on the increase then it is most likely because the stock of unsold completed properties is being reduced, restoring some semblance of balance between supply and demand for real estate.
The first quarter figures were boosted by a positive month of March, in which sales of 983,210 tons represented a 12.3% increase on the same month last year, but the figures produced by cement manufacturers’ association Oficemen still compare extremely poorly to those reported over the last 50 years. At the peak of the construction boom demand rose to 57 million tons per year, including 14 million tons in the first quarter, which is almost six times the level recorded between January and March 2015.
