Cement deliveries tumbled during the first 9 months of 2015, dropping by 12.19% to 3.71M tons compared to a higher level of 4.22M tons by September 2014. This plunge could be partially attributed to the weakening construction activity as the number of construction permits downturned by a yearly 12.51% to reach its lowest level in 6 years at 11,227 by September.
The fall in overall construction activity in the past few years, initiated following the Arab spring and the Syrian unrest in 2011. Furthermore, construction activity persisted on its lowly level this year given the continuous political deadlocks and security development.
In fact the six-month moving average of the number of cement deliveries illustrated a 13.06% decline since September 2010. Worth mentioning, some surges in cement deliveries came about from either higher public spending on infrastructure or illegal construction.
In the month of September alone, cement deliveries also went down by 12.10% to 463,428 tons compared to a higher level of 527,236 tons in September 2014.
Total Monthly Cement Deliveries in Tons
Source: BdL