The sale of cement, an important indicator of the dynamism of the construction sector on the island, fell by 18.2% in October compared to the previous month, according to data from the Canary Islands Institute of Statistics (ISTAC). A total of 3,871.1 tons were sold in October.
It is the first time this year that the number of tons sold in a month is below 4,000 tons. This is 27.9% less than in October last year.
To find another lower monthly figure, we have to go back to September 2019, when 3,753.3 tons were sold.
Therefore, the general decreasing trend that has been occurring since mid-2021 continues, after having reached 8,590 tons in March last year. During the pandemic period, the absence of tourists led to greater construction and renovation activity.
It was during the first year of the pandemic when the records soared. The monthly growth rate was 72% in May 2020.
Between January and October of this year, a total of 44,507 tons have been sold on the island, almost 28% less than in the same period last year.
The global calculation for the Canary Islands, on the other hand, experiences hardly any variations compared to last year. If between January and October of this year 483,297 tons of cement were sold in the Canary Islands, in the same period last year there were 486,432 throughout the archipelago.
