Czech cement production grew by 21% YoY to 1.7Mt in the first half of this year and its consumption rose by 11% to 1.4Mt, according to the latest data of the Czech Cement Producers’ Association.
Ceskomoravsky cement company board chairman Jan Hrozek, however, said he did not see many reasons to be optimistic. According to him, the figures mean just a slowdown of the steep fall of construction output that occurred in the previous years.
"Comparing cement consumption in the 1H09, when the construction sector in the Czech Republic was fully hit by recession, with this year, the drop reaches 7%. We cannot therefore say that the expected revival of construction output has arrived," Hrozek told CTK.
Hrozek said he expected cement output for full 2011 to reach approximately last year’s level – that is about 3.3Mt.
"The construction sector will be affected by the increased value added tax next year, which will mainly have influence on housing construction," Hrozek said.
Besides Ceskomoravsky Cement, the biggest cement producers in the Czech Republic include Holcim Cesko and Lafarge.
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