Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics(KNBS) show that Cement uptake in Kenya has failed to pick up, an indication that the property market in the country is yet to recover.
KNBS reports that uptake in six months to June 30 fell 7.9 per cent. The downward trend in cement uptake started in the months to Kenya’s general election in what observers then said was as a result of a wait-and-see attitude that investors adopted.
“Cement consumption in the first six months of the year has dropped from 2.98 million to 2.75 million,” reads the report in part.
But there was a small increase in consumption of cement between the May and June. KNBS says that the uptake rose from 436,722 MT in May 2018 to 447,381 MT in June 2018.
There is hope that ongoing public infrastructure projects such as roads and phase two of the standard gauge railway as well as the continued development of buildings will help boost cement uptake in Kenya
The government has promised to build at least 500,000 affordable new houses to Kenyans by 2022 a move that is expected to increase cement uptake.
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