Although, for the first time since February 2020, the Catalan cement market has grown again in annual terms, consumption is still 5.9% lower than in 2019, the last year before the pandemic. In the accumulated January-April 2021, 697 thousand tons of cement have been used in Catalonia, while in the same period of 2019 this figure was 741 thousand tons.
Also production, with a reduction of 10%, and exports (-6.7%) decline compared to 2019. For this reason, from Ciment Català, the sector’s employer’s association, it is noted that the statistics collected in April 2021 -that show improvements in the monthly, accumulated of the year and inter-annual periods – they must be put in context, since they are highly influenced by the stoppages of the activity in the months of March and April 2020.
Catalan industry now hopes that the arrival of the Next Generation European Funds will help consolidate the recovery of the sector in the coming years, after a decade at minimum aggravated in recent times by the health emergency. Investments in energy efficiency projects and infrastructures for climate and digital transitions should lead to a significant increase in Construction activity, with the consequent effect on the cement sector.
On the other hand, the employers’ association Ciment Català insists on the need for Catalonia to resolve the political inaction derived from the government’s provisional status in recent months. “We need the country to be led by a strong and solid government that takes the initiative” says its president, Salvador Fernández Capo. “If we want to recover the path of growth and social welfare that the pandemic has truncated, it is necessary for the Administration to be in a position to make decisions to carry the economy forward” he concludes.