The sale of cement continues to grow in Lanzarote in the midst of a health crisis. And, last June, 7,066 tons were sold on the island, 69.3% more than in the same month of 2019, according to figures from the Canary Islands Institute of Statistics published by the Cabildo Data Center.
Compared to May, however, there is a decrease of 0.8% in cement sales since then, despite the state of alarm, 7,121 tons were sold on the island. Likewise, in the annual calculation there is also a fall, in this case of 9.2%.
And, although cement sales skyrocketed in the last two months of the year, this was not the case from January to April, especially in the latter month, when the construction sector had to paralyze its activity for two weeks after a new government decree that required it.
Specifically, in January 4,959 tons of cement were sold in Lanzarote, 22.1% less than the previous year; while the following month 4,970 tons were sold, 27.6% less than in February 2019. In March, cement sales amounted to 5,260 tons, with a decrease of 19.7% compared to last year; and in April 4,123 tons were sold, 40% less than in the same month of 2019.
"Very few" ERTE in construction
"The truth is that during the entire state of alarm, except for those days when there was a definitive stoppage, the construction sector has continued working, obviously with all the measures and putting everything on its part to comply with the distances and others, but yes, it has been working and we continue, because all economic activity cannot be paralyzed and construction in this case, with its small slowdown and some paralysis of some work, in general terms, if compared with the rest of the economy, we have been well", said the president of the Association of Constructors of Lanzarote, Neftalí Acosta.
In fact, according to Acosta, there have been "very few" ERTE in construction companies on the island. "The data we had in May was around 2% of all the ERTE submitted, something very small. And they may rather be those companies that had some work that could be difficult to adapt to the measures", he pointed out.
Regarding private work, the president of the Association of Constructors of Lanzarote has stated that there has been a "slowdown" in works in homes "due to uncertainty", but he stressed that "at the tourist level there are hotels that have taken the opportunity to renovate".
"And the part of public works can continue to contribute", added Neftalí Acosta, who insisted on the importance of speeding up the projects. "We see that some works are already being tendered, not many, but we know that they are working in the different Technical Offices although the bureaucracy is slow", he concluded.
