Lafarge SA is predicting a fall in the global emand for cement globally this year, a contraction in cement for the first time in 25 years.
Lafarge Chairman and CEO Bruno Lafont expects cement consumption worldwide to fall by up to 3 percent this year.
“However, to be conservative, we did not take much into account the economic stimulus packages that have been announced by various countries, not because they will not have an influence on cement demand as they all have an infrastructure component, but because we do not know when they will start to take effect,” Lafont said, according to a report by StarBiz.
According to Lafont, the global cement demand had started to drop last year mainly due to the economic slowdown in developed countries such as the United States, Britain and Spain.
Lafont also said that the global demand for cement has been growing at an average 5% annually He the past 25 years until 2007, showing signs of strong growth in emerging markets, according to the report.
