11/10/2008 15h30
Consumption of concrete grows 15.7% until October
Gazeta Mercantil - 11/10/2008
Concrete sales reached 43.4 million tons in the period from January to October, according to data of the National Union of the Concrete Industry ( Sindicato Nacional da Indústria do Cimento - Snic), published on Friday. This represented a 15.7% increase over the same period of the preceding year. Only in the month of October, 4.8 million tons were sold, 7.2 % more than last year's same month. The average of volume per business day, 180.2 thousand tons, was 1.4% smaller than in September. According to the Union's president, José Otávio Carvalho, the fall in the monthly comparison is not related to the international crisis, which began in the same month. According to Carvalho, this performance does not change the first forecasts of the Snic, which, since the beginning of the year, deals with a growth margin between 12% and 15% in 2008. In Carvalho's forecast, 2008 will close at 51.1 million tons of sold concrete, which means 13.5% more than 2007's 45 million tons. The fall in sales also suffered the impact of the exportations, which fell 52% in the accumulated from January to October, to 506 thousand tons. The foreign market, however, represents only 1% of the total sales. The region that had the biggest growth was the North one, which advanced 35.1% until October, to 1.7 million tons; followed by the South one, which consumed 27.6% more, or 6.6 million tons.
