Mixed picture on French building materials production in H1 2019

Building materials production in France was mixed in the first half of 2019, according to new figures from 1850 Unicem, the national construction materials union. Production dipped 1% in Q2 2019 after an encouraging 10% increase in the year’s first quarter.

Aggregates production in the 1 April to 30 June 2019 period fell 4.3% from the preceding three-month period, and 1.8% compared to Q2 2018. Despite this trend, Unicem report that aggregates activity rose 2.5% year-on-year in the first half 2019. Ready-mixed concrete production fell 3.3% in Q2 2019 compared to Q1 2019, and 1.9% compared to Q2 2018.

Unicem says it remains confident that 2019 full year building materials production will be healthy, thanks to strong demand from the public works sector.