Cement usage in Spain during 2013 will have dropped 20% to below the 11 million tonnes mark, according to figures from sector association
There is already a forecast that in 2014 there will be further drops of around 7% or 8% to around 10 million tonnes, making the consumption per head just 220kg, levels last seen in 1962.
At the end of November 2013, consumption was at just 10.2 million tonnes, which is 20% down on a year earlier and 45 million tonnes less than consumption in 2007 just before the economic crisis hit.
The sector is not expecting to come out of the crisis until at the earliest 2015, and only then if credit flow and other factors such as employment, consumer spending and housing revive, along with public investment.
Exports are also being hindered in the sector, due to the uncertainty generated by the energy reforms brought in by the government. Exports in the first half of 2013 were up by 34%, but in the third-quarter they were down 3.5%.
Spain is currently the top exporter of cement in the EU, making up 18% of the EU's total cement exports.
