REVIEW OF THE ECONOMY 2013
29
SUSTAINING GROWTH, SECURING PROSPERITY
US$510.00 per tonne in December 2012 to a
high of US$540.00 per tonne in February 2013,
before returning to its original level of US$510.00
per tonne in June.
Local sales of steel products fell by 6.1 percent,
from 47.8 thousand metric tonnes to 44.8
thousand metric tonnes, as sales of billets fell by
10.2 percent from 29.2 thousand metric tonnes
to 26.2 thousand metric tonnes. The marginal
increase of 0.2 percent in local sales of wire rods
from 18.60 thousand metric tonnes to 18.64
thousand metric tonnes was insufficient to
compensate for the decline in the sale of billets.
CEMENT
The cement industry registered strong growth
during the first eight months of fiscal 2013,
having fully recovered from the effects of the
industrial dispute at Trinidad Cement Limited
by January 2013. The production of cement
rose sharply by 38.3 percent to 568.3 thousand
metric tonnes during the October 2012 to
May 2013 period, from 411.0 thousand metric
tonnes in the similar previous fiscal period. The
increase in production was achieved during the
period January to May 2013, as total production
rose by 177.4 thousand metric tonnes or 96.9
percent, year-on-year, following a decline by
20.1 thousand metric tonnes or 8.8 percent in
the October to December 2012 period.
Total cement sales increased by 24.8 percent
during the first eight months of fiscal 2013,
to 569.1 thousand metric tonnes, from 455.8
thousand metric tonnes one year earlier, in
correlation with the recovery of production
levels. Domestic sales increased by 25.7
percent, from 322.4 thousand metric tonnes
to 405.1 thousand metric tonnes. Similarly,
cement exports to markets in the Caribbean
and Latin America increased by 22.9 percent to
164.0 thousand metric tonnes in the 2012/2013
period, from 133.4 thousand metric tonnes
one year earlier. This expansion in exports was
however insufficient to match the increase in
sales to the domesticmarket.As a consequence,
the share of export sales to total sales declined
marginally to 28.8 percent during the fiscal 2013
period, from 29.3 percent in the corresponding
period of fiscal 2012. The share of local sales
accordingly rose to 71.2 percent from 70.7
percent.
The price of cement fluctuated noticeably from
the end of fiscal 2012 into the first half of fiscal
2013, falling significantly (by 27.7 percent) from
$67.54 per bag in the fourth quarter of fiscal
2012 to $48.86 per bag in the first quarter of
fiscal 2013. Subsequently, the price of cement
rose by 16.9 percent to $57.12 per bag in the
second quarter.
Figure 6:
Cement Production, Export and Local
Sales
Source: Trinidad Cement Limited
SERVICES
OVERVIEW
The services sector is projected to grow in real
terms by 2.6 percent in 2013, up slightly from
2012 when the sector expanded by an estimated
2.4 percent. This performance reflects positive
growth projections for all services sub-sectors.
The strongest growth (5.3 percent) is expected
in the largest services sub-sector, finance,
insurance, and real estate etc. primarily on
account of an expansion in banking activities.
This is however lower than the sub-sector’s
THE REAL ECONOMY
