CRH's first quarter sales up 3% on strong demand Updated / Wednesday, 28 Apr 2021 08:18 CRH said that Covid-19 restrictions in Ireland resulted in lower cement volumes than the same time last year Building materials group CRH has reported a positive start to the year with first quarter like-for-like sales up by 3% on the back of strong demand for residential construction, particularly in North America. CRH, the world's second-biggest building materials group, also said it was seeing good underlying demand and continued pricing progress across its key markets. In a trading update for the three months to the end of March, CRH said that a particularly strong performance in its Building Products division was partly offset by weather disruption in its materials businesses in North America and Europe.