Cement market 2015: Consumption in Germany expected to be lower than last year

For the current year, the German cement industry is expecting a decline in cement consumption in Germany of 1.6 % to around 26.7 million tonnes. On account of the subdued market in April and May, cement producers no longer anticipate being able to make up for the poorer development of the first quarter as compared to the previous year by the end of 2015. The early indicators are also more gloomy, particularly in the industrial construction sector.
"At present there seems to be a lower level of investment in new commercial buildings than in other areas", says Gerhard Hirth, President of VDZ, the German Cement Works Association. "At least in this highly important construction sector the positive overall economic situation is not reflected by the cement market", according to Hirth. In contrast to this is the continued dynamic development in the housing sector. The demand for multi-storey residential buildings in particular is constantly increasing. "And we are expecting the situation in this segment to remain positive. What's more, the investment campaign announced by the Federal government leads us to believe that in the medium term the civil engineering branch will also provide positive impulses for the cement market", says VDZ President Hirth.
So far this year, approximately 8.7 million tonnes of cement have been supplied to the domestic market by the VDZ member companies. This figure is thus 8.9 % below the level of the corresponding period last year. In particular it reflects the weather-induced poorer development of the first quarter of 2015 in comparison with the first three months of the previous year.
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