sales of cement fell by 3.8% in September compared to the same month in 2021, according to the National Cement Industry Union (SNIC). In all, 5.5 million tons of the product were sold in the period.
The union points out that the growing indebtedness of families, the maintenance of the Selic at 13.75% per year and the “slow” recovery of wages are factors that resulted in the slowdown in cement sales.
From January to September, 47.7 million tonnes were sold, down 3% compared to the same period of the previous year. In the monthly comparison, with August this year, there was an increase of 1.6% in sales of the product.
“After five years of crisis, the cement industry achieved a significant gain in sales between 2019 and 2021. We went from 53 million tons to 65 million tons. Our expectation for 2022 was to maintain the gains of this three-year period, but unfortunately due to high interest rates, indebtedness and cost pressure, we were not able to”, declared Paulo Camillo Penna, president of SNIC.
The external scenario was also pointed out as unfavorable for the industry, due to the negative impact of global monetary tightening and pressure on energy input prices, as well as in the case of raw materials used in the cement production process, which “maintained a high percentage of readjustment since 2020”.
Even so, the National Cement Industry Union highlighted that a scenario of clear recovery of jobs and Gross Domestic Product and the cooling of inflation have the potential to reduce the drop in cement sales to the level of 2%.
“Due to better macroeconomic conditions, we should close the year at -2%, a gain unfortunately not recorded as we expected”, concluded Paulo Penna.
Source: CNN Brasil
Joe Jameson, a technology journalist with over 2 years of experience, writes for top online news websites. Specializing in the field of technology, Joe provides insights into the latest advancements in the industry. Currently, he contributes to covering the world stock market.
