Cyprus cement production up by 5.1% y/y in January-July

Production of cement in Cyprus rose by 5.1% over the year-earlier period to 1.16 million tonnes in the first seven months of 2008, from 1.10 mln in January-July 2007.
This growth was slightly higher than in 2007, when production rose by 4.8%.
The biggest kind of cement by tonnage is Portland Composite, which according ot the German Cement Works Association, is more environmentally friendly than regular cement.
Production of Portland Composite rose by 4.2% to 567,846 tonnes.
However, sales of cement this year have been totally absorbed by local production, as there were no exports of cement or clinker in the first seven months of the year despite shortages in places such as the Gulf as Saudi Arabia has limited its own exports to help its local construction sector.
In 2007 Cyprus exported 62,969 tonnes of cement.

Fiona Mullen