Peru Cement Sector Booms

Peru’s cement sector is growing at a record pace, according to the Association of Cement Producers (Asocem). The country needs approximately $38bn of investment in the next 5 years in energy, sanitation and transportation infrastructure to ensure annual economic growth of 6% or more. Meanwhile, Peru faces a deficit of 1.2m housing units as of the start of 2011, according to the Peruvian Construction Chamber (Capeco). The twin deficits, on top of forecasts of more than $56bn in new mining and energy projects through 2020, is fueling significant growth. Cement consumption in November 2010 jumped 22.9%, to 754,422 metric tons compared to the same month in 2009. In 2010, cement dispatched from the 7 companies with factories in Peru reached 8.1m metric tons, 15.1% more than 2009, according to Ascocem. This year, the cement sector is expected to grow by 12% in the first quarter, slower than for the corresponding period in 2009, according to Pablo Nano, a sector analyst with the economic research unit of the Peruvian branch of Canada’s Scotiabank. “There is dynamic growth [in the cement market] with rates well above 10% annually,” says Juan Carolos Cardenas, general manager of Mexico’s Cemex in Peru.