Displaying items by tag: China

China: Data from the National Bureau of Statistics of China shows a 5% year-on-year decline in cement production in the first eight months of 2025, to 1.11Bnt. Production was 148Mt in August 2025, down by 6% year-on-year but up by 1% month-on-month. In the previous month, July 2025, the country produced its lowest monthly volume of cement since 2009, at 146Mt. Price reporting agency Platts said that the decline was due to reduced domestic demand, precipitated by a prolonged real estate sector downturn and sluggish infrastructure investment.

A representative of a local cement retail company reportedly said "We expect a similar trend in 2026, with full-year cement production likely declining by another 5 – 8% year-on-year."

China: Cement production fell to 148Mt in August 2025, down by 6.2% year-on-year, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics. From January to August 2025, production reached 1.105Bnt, representing a 5% decrease year-on-year compared to the same period in 2024.

In July 2025, production reached its lowest level since 2009, at 146Mt.  The drop was attributed to the ongoing real estate crisis, weak infrastructure activity and weather disruptions from heatwaves and storms. Producers are shrinking capacity to better align with demand.

Here we go! China-based Huaxin Cement delivered a one-two combo this week by first announcing that it had completed its acquisition of Lafarge Africa from Holcim and then revealing plans to amalgamate all of its overseas businesses into a single subsidiary. The first action feeds into the second but it’s a big move for the international ambitions of the company.

Global Cement Weekly has previously covered Huaxin Cement’s deal to buy Holcim’s majority stake in Lafarge Africa for US$1bn. After being announced in December 2024 the transaction was expected to close in 2025 subject to the usual regulatory approvals. However, various impediments emerged. In March 2025 local press reported that the Senate of Nigeria asked the Bureau of Public Procurement to scrutinise the sale on the grounds of national security and economic sovereignty. A Senate Committee on Capital Market then said in May 2025 that it was going to invite Lafarge Africa for questioning to ‘ensure shareholder rights and transparency of foreign dominance in Nigeria's cement industry.’ Local company and Lafarge Africa shareholder Strategic Consultancy then initiated a legal action to try and block the sale on the grounds that it was conducted secretly and without giving local shareholders the option to buy the shares themselves. These are just the issues that have made the local press. There may be more. The transaction officially closed on 29 August 2025 with Huaxin Cement paying around US$774m. Huaxin Cement is now the majority owner of Lafarge Africa with a 83% share.

Huaxin Cement’s decision to create a specific overseas subsidiary makes sense given the growing size of the business. Its stated aim is to fulfil the group’s “long-term strategic goal of building a world-leading multinational building materials company." The acquisition of Lafarge Africa is one big milestone along this path. In the group’s half-year report, also out this week, it said it had an overseas cement grinding capacity of 24.7Mt/yr with operations in 12 countries including Cambodia, Kyrgyzstan, Malawi, Mozambique, Nepal, Oman, South Africa, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Uzbekistan, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The new company will make and sell cement, technical services, ready-mixed concrete and aggregates. Notably, it will also specialise in the co-processing of alternative fuels. That last one is mostly implicit in any modern cement enterprise these days but as thermal substitution rates rise in developing markets there are likely to be many battles for commodities and market share ahead. It says it wants to create a new overseas subsidiary in order to “further broaden financing channels, open up and integrate resources, and enhance the operational capabilities of Huaxin Cement.” The plans are reportedly at an early stage, but the new subsidiary will remain under the control of Huaxin Cement in China. The focus on finance also seems particularly important, as the company wants to use its new subsidiary to improve its competitiveness and flexibility in overseas capital markets to help it with financing and mergers and acquisitions. To this end, the new company will be listed on an overseas stock exchange. Hong Kong might be the first contender for that ‘overseas’ bourse with its differing economic and legal systems, whilst remaining firmly Chinese.

To finish, let’s compare the contrasting business strategies of Holcim and Huaxin Cement over the last decade. Lafarge and Holcim merged in 2015, later becoming Holcim as it is today. The company divested many of its assets around the world - including Lafarge Africa, diversified into building systems and spun-off its North American division into Amrize. Huaxin Cement became one of the biggest cement companies in the world as the Chinese sector peaked in the 2010s but has also developed into the leading Chinese cement company overseas. That business outside of China has helped Huaxin Cement to make profits in recent years despite the domestic industry declining in the 2020s. Today, many large-scale cement company divestments all over the world are often linked to Huaxin Cement. Its new overseas company, whatever it is called, is likely to become well known across the world.

China: Huaxin Cement is planning to consolidate all overseas production and operating assets into a new subsidiary, which it intends to list on an overseas stock exchange, according to a company announcement made on 31 August 2025. The proposed spin-off, which is still at a preliminary stage, reportedly aims to broaden financing channels, integrate resources and strengthen the company’s global operations.

Huaxin Cement said the restructuring will not affect its control over the overseas assets, with the new entity remaining a controlled subsidiary in its consolidated financial statements. The company said the move supports its long-term goal of becoming a 'globally leading multinational corporation in the building materials industry.'

The announcement comes just two days after the completed divestment of Holcim’s stake in Lafarge Africa to Huaxin Cement for US$1bn.

China: Anhui Conch’s revenues fell by 9% year-on-year to US$5.77bn in the first half of 2025 from US$6.37bn in the same period in 2025. Its net profit grew by 32% to US$587m from US$445m. Its net sales of cement and clinker remained stable at 127Mt. The group said that despite facing “insufficient demand, intensified competition and volatile market conditions” it managed to improve its efficiency, reduce operation costs and expand its market. Notable cement sector achievements during the reporting period included signing a deal to buy selected assets from West China Cement in China, acquiring Conch West Papua Cement in Indonesia and completing a 5000t/day production line at Phnom Penh in Cambodia.

China/US: A team led by Fengyin Du, then at Southeast University in Nanjing, developed a new cement formulation that reflects sunlight and emits heat more effectively than ordinary Portland cement, according to the New Scientist. The cement incorporates reflective ettringite crystals on its surface, which Du says “works like a mirror and a radiator, so it can reflect sunlight away and send heat out into the sky, so a building can stay cooler without any air conditioning or electricity.”

To make it, the researchers produce tiny pellets from limestone and gypsum, which are ground and mixed with water before being poured into a silicone mould covered in small holes. Ettringite crystals grow in slight depressions on the surface created by air bubbles, while an aluminium-rich gel allows infrared light to pass through, lowering heat retention.

Du said that tests at Purdue University, Indiana showed the cement’s surface was 5.4°C cooler than the air and 26°C cooler than conventional cement under the same conditions. The process is reportedly scalable and costs US$5/t less than ordinary Portland cement, as it can be produced at lower temperatures.

China: Data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that cement production in July 2025 reached 146Mt, down by 6% year-on-year and the lowest July level since 2009, according to Bloomberg. Output from January to July 2025 was 958Mt, representing a 4.5% year-on-year decline. The drop was attributed to the ongoing real estate crisis, weak infrastructure activity, and weather disruptions from heatwaves and storms. Bloomberg said that further declines are likely as producers shrink capacity to better align with demand.

Belarus: Krasnoselskstroymaterialy is preparing a US$100m modernisation project at one of its cement plants and is seeking investment from Chinese companies. CEO Alexander Golda said “A large cement plant modernisation project is currently at its pre-investment stage. We are actively working with Chinese partners, and representatives of several large companies have already visited us with proposals.” He added that work will continue through 2025 ‘and the following years’ before a final decision is made.

The company reduced its net loss by 45% year-on-year to US$9.50m in 2024, while sales grew by 21% to US$139m.

China: Anhui Conch Cement has appointed Yu Shui as its General Manager. The position is analogous to a CEO at the company. He succeeds Li Qunfeng in the post.

Yu Shui, aged 48 years, has been working most recently as Secretary to the Board, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at Anhui Conch Cement. He is also currently the chair of subsidiary Wuhu Conch Trading and holds directorship with a number of other associated companies. He joined the group in 1997. Notable positions include Director of the Sales Department, General Manager of Conch Cement in South Kalimantan, Indonesia and Deputy General Manager. He is a graduate of Anhui University.

It’s been a sobering week for the cement sector in South Korea with the release of sales data for the first half of 2025.

Data from the Korea Cement Association (KCA) shows that local shipments of cement fell by 17% year-on-year to 18.8Mt in the first half of the year. The last time half-year output was reported to be below 20Mt was in 1992. The association noted that a ‘severe’ construction recession had continued from 2024. An uptick in demand for building materials is anticipated in the second half of 2025 due to postponed construction work but it is expected to be limited by a forthcoming government budget. The association said that output for the whole of 2025 is forecast to be “significantly below 40Mt unless effective construction stimulus measures are available.”

Graph 1: Cement shipments in South Korea, 2019 - 2025. Source: Korea Cement Association.

20Mt of cement output marks a dividing line in the South Korea-based market in recent decades. Previous economic low points over the last 30 years include the Asian Financial Crisis in the late 1990s and the 2008 financial crash triggered by the subprime market in the US. However, on neither occasion did half-year cement output in South Korea fall below 20Mt. The current situation is likely to be reflected in the financial results of the local manufacturers, when they are released later in August 2025, following poor first-quarter figures.

The general construction sector is facing a tough time, with construction companies facing a liquidity crunch as lending rules have been tightened. At the same time prices and labour costs are both reportedly up by 30% in the past three years. One reaction to this in Autumn 2024 was plans suggested by construction companies to import cement from China. This gained some support from the government, which said it was looking at ways to reduce costs, but then faced opposition in the National Assembly. It is unclear what has happened since then, although KCA figures show that imports of cement grew by 40% year-on-year to 384,000t in the second half of 2024.

The cement producers have reacted by shutting down production lines in some cases. In April 2025 local press reported that eight of the country’s 35 production lines had been shut down. Hanil Cement’s Danyang plant had reportedly suspended two of its six production lines. One additional kiln at Asia Cement’s Jecheon plant was preparing to be closed at this time, with the manager citing the difficulty of coping with a 70% capacity utilisation rate. This would have brought the site’s number of active lines down to two of four. Another unmentioned kiln also reportedly preparing to suspend operations would bring the total of inactive kilns up to 10.

As might be expected in this kind of business environment, mergers and acquisitions activity has started. Hanil Cement announced in mid-July 2025 that it was preparing to buy its subsidiary Hanil Hyundai Cement. The transaction is expected to cut costs of the newly combined company and yield other synergy effects.

With its high cement consumption per capita, the cement market in South Korea remains atypical compared to peer economies in East Asia and Europe. Consumption dropped after a peak in the 1990s but it remained high by international standards. Hence the outcry about a half-year cement output bigger than most European countries can manage in a year. The IMF predicts a gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 0.8% in 2025 in South Korea, with a faster pickup of 1.8% in 2026. Construction levels are expected to remain sluggish into autumn and start recovering in 2026. General market trends in developed countries suggest that cement consumption will fall further in South Korea in coming decades, especially as sustainability trends embed. Cement sales in Japan, for example, have gradually been dwindling since the late 1990s. One question here is whether the cement market in South Korea can continue to hold its high level of consumption per capita. It remains to be seen.