Cement deliveries in Saudi Arabia fell in October signalling the ongoing slowdown in the kingdom’s construction sector.

According to a report from AlJazira Capital, cement dispatches for October were 4.03 million tonnes (including exports), compared with 4.10 million tonnes in October 2017, which represents a 1.8 per cent year-on-year decline. For the first 10 months of this year, cement dispatches totalled 37.25 million (including exports) tonnes, compared with 39.36 million tonnes for the same period last year. This is a decline of 5.4 per cent.

The report also stated that while cement deliveries slowed, inventories of clinker – a component of cement – rose by 19.8 per cent during October on a year-on-year basis to 41.57 million tonnes.

The decline in October’s cement volumes comes as data from regional projects tracker MEED Projects shows that contract awards in the kingdom are slowing. In October, there were $109m of construction and transport contract awards in Saudi Arabia, down 90 per cent on the $1.127bn awarded during October 2017.

While the figure for October is down, the total for the first 10 months of 2018 is $10.699bn – up marginally on the $10.619bn awarded during the same period of last year.