El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua were the Central American markets that increased their hydraulic cement imports in the first half of 2020 in year-on-year terms.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit of CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with the graphic"]
The restriction to the construction activity due to the sanitary emergency and culmination of the third set of locks of the Canal, forces the cement producing companies in Panama to enter in "hibernation" mode.
Due to the health emergency, the Ministry of Health of Panama decided to extend the temporary suspension of the construction activity for a 30-day period, under the same terms expressed in Decree 506 of March 24.
The Legislative Assembly approved in second debate a bill that aims to tax in the country the sale and self-consumption of imported or locally produced cement.
The initiative, which was approved in the first debate in the Assembly in mid-February and is still pending approval by the Executive Branch, establishes that the tax will be on imported cement produced nationally, in bags or in bulk, for sale or self-consumption, of any kind, whose destination is the consumption and marketing of the product nationally.
In Panama, the import of cement and the depressed activity of the construction sector explain the fall in the production of concrete and cement in the first half of the year.
Cemento Argos Panama plans to invest about $168 million in the construction of an industrial complex that will serve for the production of Clinker, which will be located on the property of the company's plant in the province of Colon.
Argos Panamá, S.A. presented to the Ministry of Environment the Environmental Impact Study (EIA) to develop the industrial project called "Balboa Project."
One of the approved technical standards establishes the chemical, physical, and performance requirements of general and specialty cements for both imported and locally produced products.
Ministerial resolutions also include packaging, transportation, storage and use requirements. The standard can be purchased by the interested public at the Standards Information Center of the General Directorate of Standards and Technology of MICI, an official source reported.
During the first nine months of 2018, Central American companies imported hydraulic cement for $110 million, and purchases from Mexico doubled compared to the same period in 2017.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with graphic"]
During the first six months of 2018, Central American companies imported hydraulic cement for $77 million, and purchases from China increased 42% over the same period in 2017.
Figures from the information system on the the Hydraulic Cement Market in Central America, compiled by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with graphic"]
An estimated 7,000 tons of cement from the Asian country have already entered the country, a product that is still stored and waiting to be commercialized.
Businessmen of the sector warn that norms and quality standards need to be established to regulate the entry into the country of imported material, which will compete with local production.
In the first three months of 2018, countries in Central America imported $36 million worth of hydraulic cement, 9% more than was purchased in the same period in 2017.
Figures from the Information System on the Hydraulic Cement Market in Central America, compiled by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption = "Click to interact with graph"]
The construction of megaprojects has caused a high demand for cement and an increase in the prices of the main material for the construction industry.
The fact that only two companies (Argos, and Cemex) lead the Panamanian market has caused prices to skyrocket because they are setting the price of this item. Experts expect that when demand for this raw material decreases, so will prices.