Q1 cement data suggests booming construction sector

© Yuriy Chaban – 123RF.com

This is because cement intensive infrastructure projects such as the new Eskom power stations and dams are gaining traction.

The construction sector is a large employer and created 10,300 jobs in the 12 months to the first quarter of 2015 with total employment now at 1.322-million.

The cement data show that some sectors of the South African economy are coping with load shedding, but this has not come through in terms of general public perceptions.

This is in part due to the long data lag on cement sales data imposed by the Competition Commission, so the good news in terms of first quarter cement data is only available in the third quarter.

Prior to April 2012, cement sales data was released on a monthly basis a few days after month-end, but the Competition Commission then ruled that the cement data could only be released on a quarterly basis after a minimum of 90 days.

That meant that economists only knew the effect of the Marikana tragedy on cement sales in 2013, whereas previously they would have had September 2012 data in the first few days of October 2012. In the first nine months of 2013, cement sales grew by 6.2% y/y compared with a 2.9% rise in 2012, a 3.3% gain in 2011 and a 7.8% slump in 2010.

The Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission (PICC) has identified and developed projects and infrastructure initiatives from state-owned enterprises as well as national, provincial and local government departments.

These have been clustered, sequenced and prioritised into a pipeline of strategic integrated projects.

Source: BDpro