Global Cement
Unmatached fuel flexibility with Pyrorotor - KHD
Online condition monitoring experts for proactive and predictive maintenance - DALOG
Cut your energy costs with our high-performance lubricants and services - Kluber Lubrication
Optimizing your cement plant. Empowering your team. CemAI - Cement Intelligence
  • Home
  • News
  • Conferences
  • Magazine
  • Directory
  • Reports
  • Members
  • Live
  • Login
  • Advertise
  • Knowledge Base
  • Alternative Fuels
  • Services
  • Jobs
  • Privacy & Cookie Policy
  • About
  • Register
  • Trial subscription
  • Contact
News Production picks up - update on Russia

Production picks up - update on Russia

Written by David Perilli, Global Cement 08 January 2020
  • Print

Last month Soyuzcement, the Union of Russian Cement Producers, reported that cement production was on course to grow by 8% year-on-year to 58Mt in 2019. This estimate was based on growth from January to October 2019 followed by a modest rise in November.

Graph 1: Cement production in Russia, 2010 – 2019. Source: CM Pro, Ernst & Young. 

Graph 1: Cement production in Russia, 2010 – 2019. Source: CM Pro, Ernst & Young.

The pickup is significant because it’s the country’s first annual resumption of growth since 2014. At that time low commodity prices, a worsening economy and international sanctions broke a fairly steady growth cycle that had started in 2000. The only blip in that run was the global economic downturn around 2008. In the medium to long term Soyuzcement’s review pinpointed growth drivers as being government-backed residential housing schemes, integrated land development projects and an increase in the construction of concrete roads. This increase has been driven by consumption growth in most regions, led by a 12% rise in the Central Federal District although the Volga Federal District started to slow in the second half of 2019.

Figure 1: Russian Federal Districts by cement production in 2016. Source: Soyuzcement.ru. 

Figure 1: Russian Federal Districts by cement production in 2016. Source: Soyuzcement.ru.

Anecdotally, this change in the fortunes of the Russian cement industry can be seen in the volume of news coverage on the Global Cement website over the last few years. The mean number of news stories on the country in 2016 and 2017, increased by half in 2018 and then again in 2019. Partly this is down to our attempts to increase our coverage of the region but it also shows a general trend. In the news specifically there haven’t been many new plant projects domestically but there has been a steady stream of upgrades and maintenance related stories. For example, Eurocement subsidiary Kavkazcement reported in recent weeks that it had installed a replacement dry kiln. This has been part of a group of upgrades that Eurocement has started in 2019. On the supplier side both Germany’s Gebr. Pfeiffer and Italy’s Bedeschi opened subsidiaries in Russia in 2019.

One thing that didn’t seem to slow down the growth were mounting tariffs on Russian exports into Ukraine. Russia’s neighbour first blocked imports of cement from Russia in May 2019 due to, what it said was a Russian ban on imports. It then followed this with an antidumping rate of 115% for imported clinker and Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) from Russia. It also penalised imports from Belarus and Moldova, although at lower rates. Russia’s cement export rates seemed untroubled by this, rising by 13.5% year-on-year to 0.8Mt in the first 10 months of 2019. Exports hit of high of just below 2Mt/yr in 2014 but have since stabilised at around 1Mt/yr. Imports reached around 5Mt/yr in the early 2010s and have been slowly declining since then, reaching 1.5Mt in 2018.

The lowered production rate that the Russian cement industry has faced over the last five years has been noteworthy given the apparent low capacity utilisation rate. The Global Cement Directory 2019 records the country as having a production capacity of 111Mt/yr. This gives Russia a capacity utilisation rate of 48% in 2018! Unlike, say, the countries in southern Europe that have had to rationalise their cement industries following the post-2008 decline, Russia may have structural aspects to the industry that have helped protect it from lower utilisation rates. These include relatively low export-import rates and the large size of the country with limited sea access to many regions. Most of its production capacity is located in the west but a sizable minority of plants are based further east across the Ural, Siberian and Far Eastern regions. Even under subdued economic conditions, plants in these places are likely to be less susceptible to foreign imports, for example.

Looking ahead, the question is whether the current growth that the cement industry is enjoying is viable once government spending slows down. Alongside this the industry could also focus on sustainability. As the government announced in early January 2020, the country expects to face both negative and positive effects from climate change. The cement industry could be at the front of this trend if it decides to clean up production and/or move into new markets as the Arctic region opens up.

Published in Analysis
Tagged under
  • Russia
  • Eurocement
  • Plant
  • GCW437
  • Upgrade
  • Gebr Pfeiffer
  • Bedeschi
  • Ukraine
  • Import
  • Export
  • Production
  • Tax
  • Moldova
  • Belarus
  • Soyuzcement
  • data

Register for the Global Cement Weekly email newsletter

Global Cement Weekly is Global Cement’s weekly email newsletter. Keep up to date with cement industry news, analysis, diary dates and news of people in the sector.

Register >

Related items

  • Bestway Cement inaugurates Mianwali cement plant
  • Vietnamese cement production drops in first quarter of 2023
  • Anhui Conch builds concrete and solar capacity as cement sales tumble in 2022
  • Huaxin Cement continues to grow revenue overseas in 2023
  • Southern Province Cement drafting contract for Jazan cement plant line project
back to top
AI Modules - The Kima Process
Loesche - Innovative Engineering
“Register
Airscape - The new sealing standard for transfer points in conveying systems
We Move Industries - HEKO Group - Conveying Solutions
Acquisition Cemex China CO2 concrete coronavirus Export France Germany Government grinding plant HeidelbergCement Holcim Import India Lafarge LafargeHolcim Mexico Nigeria Pakistan Plant Product Production Results Russia Sales Sustainability UK Upgrade US
« April 2023 »
Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
          1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30



Sign up for FREE to Global Cement Weekly
Global Cement LinkedIn
Global Cement Facebook
Global Cement Twitter
  • Home
  • News
  • Conferences
  • Magazine
  • Directory
  • Reports
  • Members
  • Live
  • Login
  • Advertise
  • Knowledge Base
  • Alternative Fuels
  • Services
  • Jobs
  • Privacy & Cookie Policy
  • About
  • Register
  • Trial subscription
  • Contact
  • Conferences & Webinars >>
  • Global Ash
  • Global CemBoards
  • Global CemCCUS
  • Global CemEnergy
  • Global CemFuels
  • Global CemPower
  • Global CemProcess
  • Global CemProducer
  • Global Cement Quality Control
  • Global CemTrans
  • Global ConChems
  • Global Concrete
  • Global FutureCem
  • Global Gypsum
  • Global GypSupply
  • Global Insulation
  • Global Slag
  • Global Synthetic Gypsum
  • Global Well Cem
  • African Cement
  • Asian Cement
  • American Cement
  • European Cement
  • Middle Eastern Cement
  • Magazine >>
  • Latest issue
  • Articles
  • Editorial programme
  • Contributors
  • Link
  • Awards
  • Back issues
  • Subscribe
  • Photography
  • Register for free copies
  • The Last Word
  • Websites >>
  • Global Gypsum
  • Global Slag
  • Global CemFuels
  • Global Concrete
  • Global Insulation
  • Pro Global Media
  • PRoIDS Online
  • Social >>
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

© 2023 Pro Global Media Ltd. All rights reserved.