Sale of cement in Brazil grows 4.2% in January over a year earlier

SAO PAULO (Reuters)-the marketing of cement in Brazil in January rose 4,2% on a year earlier, adding 4.5 million tons, reported on Thursday the Association of manufacturers of raw material, Icns. The sales growth of the input, one of the indicators of the health of the economy, was driven by improvement in the residential construction sector activity, while the infrastructure segment follows stagnated, according to the entity. " This stems from the absence of investments caused by the fiscal deficit and granting programs who have not yet had the expected performance, "said the President of the Snic, Paulo Camillo Penna. In January, all regions of Brazil, with the exception of the North, had high sales in annual and monthly comparisons. In the Southeast, the growth was 2,6% before January 2018 to 2,130,000 tons. In the Northeast, the high was 3,3%, to 1 million tons. The South recorded sales of 10,8% expansion in January over a year earlier, to 738,000 tons, while in the Midwest there was growth of 7,6%, to 467,000 tons. In the North, the fall was from 4,8% in the same comparison, for 200,000 tons. " The beginning of the recovery is being pulled by the real estate market that, at the end of last year, was marked by a series of releases, notably of residential buildings, "said Penna, which evaluates the result of January is still insufficient to Note a tendency to "clear and hold" the industry recovery. The sector accumulated a fall of sales of 26% for the past four years.