11/25/2008 14h53
Sale of building material to grow 28% this year
Gazeta Mercantil 11/25/2008
The growth of 36.5% in the income from the sales of building material until the month of October and the high of 18% in the volume sold in the month compared to the same period of the preceding year led the Brazilian Association of the Industries of Construction Materials (Abramat) to review, for the fourth time this year, the projections of growth for 2008. Sales should increase 28%, a record level of growth for the sector, which, with that, should achieve sales of R$ 100 billion (US$ 45.5 billion). In the beginning of this year, the forecast of the Abramat was of an increase of 12% in the sales. The increase in 2007 was 15%. "We know there is a crisis and it will affect us at some point in time. However, the effects take a while to get to the building industry; there are several works still in progress", said the president of Abramat, Melvyn Fox. According to his calculation, the sale of building material should continue growing normally until February or March, when the stop in the real estate launchings and the decrease in retail should begin slowing down the sales for 2009. The growth forecast for next year is 6%. The principal engine of growth continues being the basic products, used in the structure of constructions, like cement, steel and pipes. The sales of basic material increased 40.2% from January to October, compared to the same period of last year, and 38% in the accumulated in 12 months. Regarding finishing materials - used in the end of the construction, like paint, sanitary fixtures and flooring - had an increase of 18.5%.
