The sale of construction materials, which had been growing in September and October because people took the opportunity to
stockpile before the coming devaluation
, deepened its decline in January, after having also fallen in December.
The Construya Index (IC), which measures the evolution of the volumes sold to the private sector of construction products manufactured by the main companies in the sector,
registered a seasonally adjusted monthly decrease of 19.6% and stood at 29.2% below January 2023
.
The falls have been deepening since November.
“The year begins with an accentuation of the downward trend in material shipments, this is due to the fact that we are in
months of vacation break and due to the uncertainty generated by high inflation
,” explained from Construya.
The index measures the evolution of sales of ceramic bricks, cement, lime, long steel, aluminum carpentry, adhesives and pastes, waterproofing paints, sanitaryware, taps, flooring and electrical and electronic materials, among other products used in the sector.
Businessmen in the sector already estimated that the start of 2024 was going to be tough.
In a survey carried out by Construya between November 24 and December 11 of last year at the national level,
46% had anticipated a decrease in its activity
, 27% expected it to remain the same, and 18% anticipated an increase.
Exchange uncertainty,
with
30%, led the difficulties, followed by the
lower availability of financing
and the
higher construction cost
, both with 15%.
53% of participants had indicated that they had experienced
a decrease
in activity level in the last twelve months, while 34% had managed to maintain their activity.
NE