27 October 2025

Serbia: The economy ministry will provide Lafarge Srbija, part of the Holcim Group, with a €10.6m subsidy to help finance the construction of a new cement plant in Belgrade’s Obrenovac municipality, according to SeeNews. The government initially announced the cement producer’s plans to build a new plant in August 2024. Lafarge reportedly plans to invest €112m in the project by the end of 2027. The company will hire 51 additional full-time workers by the end of 2026, bringing total employment to 320, which it will maintain for at least five years after completion. The subsidy, equivalent to 9.5% of total investment, will be paid in three tranches between 2026 and 2028.

The Obrenovac plant will produce cement using ash from nearby thermal power plants operated by state-owned Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS). In February 2025, EPS signed a 10-year agreement to supply 20Mt of ash from the Nikola Tesla B power plant to a consortium of Lafarge Srbija and Elixir Group. Lafarge Srbija also acquired the Jazovnik stone quarry in Vladimirci, 30km from the new site, to establish a complete logistics chain for the complex. The producer operates an existing cement plant in Beocin.

Spain: Cement consumption rose by 19.5% year-on-year in September 2025 to 1.49Mt, 243,000t more than in the same month of 2024, according to data from Oficemen. Cumulative growth for the first nine months reached 10%, with total consumption at 12.0Mt, 1.06Mt higher than in September 2024.

Officemen director general Aniceto Zaragoza said “Although consumption trends are very positive, it's important to put the data into context: we are still below the level necessary to adequately cover our country's public works and housing needs. According to the Bank of Spain, the current deficit is 700,000 new homes. To meet this demand, it would be necessary to reach consumption of around 20Mt/yr - the same as in 2011 - which shows that there is still clear room for growth.” Rolling-year data shows total consumption at 15.96Mt, up by 10% year-on-year. Exports fell by 8.5% in the first nine months of 2025 to 3.39Mt, with a sharp 24% drop in September 2025, while imports rose by 31% to 1.40Mt.

Bangladesh: Most cement plants are operating at less than 30% capacity, far below the global benchmark of 70–80%, according to the Bangladesh Cement Manufacturers Association (BCMA) via The Business Standard. National consumption fell to 38Mt in 2024, less than 40% of total capacity, and has declined further in 2025, forcing producers to cut output and lay off workers.

BCMA president Amirul Haque said “After Covid-19, we began recovering in 2021, driven by renewed construction. But since 2023, the situation has worsened drastically. Entrepreneurs expanded based on government demand. When projects slowed, we faced a severe cash flow crisis. Several small plants have already shut down.”

Bashundhara Cement, which has a capacity of 7.3Mt/yr, is reportedly running at 20% utilisation, while Mir Cement has reduced output to a quarter of capacity. Premier Cement is operating at around 40% capacity and Crown Cement has 60% of its capacity idle. Only Meghna Group of Industries reports growth, though utilisation remains 65%.

North Korea: The Puhung Cement Factory carried out the blasting of 350,000m³ of earth on 22 October 2025, according to Korean News. The blasting allows for increased cement supply to construction sites in order to implement government policies.