Displaying items by tag: Import

Papua New Guinea: The government will support the Mayur Lime and Cement Project (MLCP) and other lime and cement initiatives under the Special Economic Zones policy, aiming to eliminate cement imports, according to local press reports.

Minister for international trade and investment Richard Maru said the Marape-Rosso government wants to replace all imported cement and lower domestic costs.

He said “Cement is essential in building our nation. We have four other limestone projects on the way, in Central, Morobe (Finschhafen) and Chimbu. We want to see all our roads built with cement from the lime resources within PNG. We do not want to see any of our lime by-products like clinker to be sent overseas. All our lime must be used for our nation-building projects in PNG.”

He added “We are currently importing cement from China and we know that our cement factory in Lae is importing cement from other countries. We want this to cease when this project starts. We have enough resources here to supply our own needs and be the net exporter of cement.”

Philippines: Just 53% of domestic cement production capacity is in use, according to Cement Manufacturers of the Philippines president Reinier Dizon, who raised concerns over the long-term sustainability of local producers amid an increase in ‘cheap’ imports.

Dizon spoke during a Tariff Commission public hearing, of which five days are scheduled until 20 June 2025, examining the imposition of definitive safeguard measures on imported Portland and blended cement.

The Department of Trade and Industry imposed a provisional safeguard in February 2025, following a preliminary finding that the rise in imports caused serious injury to the domestic industry between 2019 and June 2024. Vietnam and Indonesia, which supply 93% and 5% of imports respectively, were not exempted, while China, which supplies 1%, was.

Australia: Minister for Climate Change and Minister Chris Bowen says that the government is ‘considering’ the enactment of a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to prevent carbon leakage from high emissions-intensity products, including cement.

The Australian Parliament committed to 43% national CO₂ emissions reduction between 2005 and 2030 in 2022, and capped emitters’ individual carbon footprints in 2023. Final advice from a government Carbon Leakage Review was due after May 2025, and was possibly complicated by on-going US climate and trade reforms under President Trump. The Australian Cement Industry Federation bemoaned a lack of action on carbon leakage in March 2025. It warned of jeopardy to both decarbonisation and 1400 jobs in the Australian cement sector.

Australia’s construction industry imported 40% of its cement used in 2024.

The Polish Cement Association (SPC) has taken a swing at mounting cement imports from outside of the European Union (EU) in recent weeks. Its ‘apocalyptic’ message was underlined by the name of a seminar it participated in at the European Parliament: “Is the end of cement production in the EU approaching?” The SPC’s primary target appeared to be imports from Ukraine. It said that, “...cement imports from Ukraine - only to Poland - have increased by almost 3000% over five years (2019 - 2024). (In 2024) it amounted to more than 650,000t, and forecasts for 2025 already indicate more than 1Mt.” However, it detailed other issues affecting the sector including high energy prices, the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and decarbonisation costs such as carbon capture.

The SPC is clearly keen to find cross-country support in the EU. In its accompanying statement it said "The uncontrolled increase in imports - from Ukraine to Poland or Romania, and from Türkiye and Africa to Italy or Spain - is already directly threatening cement producers, and will only continue to rise until the full implementation of the CBAM. It shows that imports from outside the EU are not just a problem for Poland.” Representatives from the cement associations in the later countries - CIROM, AITEC and Oficemen - all added comments to the SPC statement.

The SPC has called for a customs quota on cement imports from Ukraine to Poland to be introduced. It also asked for the European Commission to extend the EU ETS indirect cost compensation scheme to include the cement sector in order to further hedge against rising energy bills. It argues that this measure is essential to keep the cement industry competitive both now and in the future. Future electricity consumption is expected to double as cement plants start to install carbon capture technology.

Graph 1: Domestic cement sales and imports in Poland, 2019 - 2024. Source: SPC, Eurostat. Note: 2024 sales estimated.

Data from the SPC suggests that domestic cement sales in Poland peaked at 19.4Mt in 2022. They fell by 12% year-on-year to 16.6Mt in 2023 and then appear to have grown to 17.1Mt in 2024 based on estimated data. It is hard to replicate the SPC’s methodology for determining cement imports into Poland based on Eurostat data. However, data in its Economic Impact Report published at the end of 2024 suggests that imports from Ukraine grew from 79,000t in 2019 to 332,000t in 2023. Any significant rise in imports of cement in 2024, as the local industry recovered from the decline in 2023, seems likely to have caused concern.

Polish concern at growing imports from Ukraine started to be expressed in the press from early 2024 onwards when the 2023 data became apparent. Germany had been the biggest source of imports from the mid-2010s. Yet Germany and Ukraine both supplied about 30% of total imports each in 2023. For example, SPC head Zbigniew Pilch noted in April 2024 that imports from Ukraine were growing steadily each month and represented nearly half of total imports in January 2024. He described these volumes as “deeply concerning.” The Association of Cement Producers in Ukraine (Ukrcement) later attempted to soothe Polish concerns in late 2024 looking at longer import trends and bringing up the challenges facing Ukraine-based producers operating in a warzone.

Concerns about imports from Ukraine in eastern countries in the EU go back decades but have been clouded by the war with Russia. This is now reasserting itself as import levels grow, the cost of decarbonising heavy industry becomes more urgent and the CBAM comes into force. That said , cement plants in Ukraine look unlikely to cope with the CBAM that well due to their relatively high emissions intensity. Yet, other exporting countries outside the EU with lower cement sector emissions intensities may simply displace their competitors. Hence, the SPC’s call for a quota. The kinds of arguments that the SPC is making about carbon leakage are likely to grow fiercer across the EU as the definitive stage of the CBAM, due to start in 2026, draws nearer. Will the current situation lead to ‘the end of cement production in the EU?’ Time will tell…

Ukraine: The Interdepartmental Commission on International Trade has extended anti-dumping duties on cement from Russia, Belarus and Moldova until 2030, according to Ukrainian News. The duties stand at 115% for Russian cement, 94% for Moldovan cement and 57% for Belarusian cement, following a review of measures first imposed in 2019.

Armenia: The Committee on Economic Affairs of the National Assembly has approved a fourfold increase on cement import duty, in a bid to protect domestic producers from cheaper Iranian imports, according to Arminfo News. Cement production in Iran is reportedly cheaper due to state subsidies and low energy prices, and is exported in large volumes to neighbouring countries, including Armenia. The new duty intends to create equal competition in the sector. According to the State Revenue Committee, cement imports to Armenia rose by 72% year-on-year to 436,000t in 2024.

EU: The European Parliament has approved proposed changes to the EU carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) as part of efforts to reduce the administrative burden for small and medium sized enterprises (SME) and occasional importers. Members of the parliament adopted the text by 564 votes in favour, 20 against and with 12 abstentions.

While the changes do not affect large scale importers, including those of cement, they remove the need to pay for CBAM allowances for less than 50t of imports. This will exempt 90% of importers - mainly SMEs and individuals - that import only small quantities of CBAM-effected goods. However, the CBAM’s environmental objectives will reportedly remain achievable, as 99% of total CO2 emissions from imports of cement, iron, steel, aluminium and fertilisers would still be covered.

Poland: Cement producers are calling on the European Commission to introduce quotas on imports from Ukraine, to limit their volumes to 0.36Mt/yr. This figure is almost half of the 2024 figure. Poland imported 0.1Mt of cement from Ukraine in 2022, but more than 0.65Mt in 2024. Forecasts for 2025 exceed 1.0Mt, a 10-fold increase in just three years. Ukraine exported 1.7Mt of cement to EU countries in 2024.

The Polish Association of Cement Producers (ACP) believes that the increase in imports is already harming local cement plants, which it says are forced to compete with Ukrainian suppliers on unequal terms. Wlodzimierz Choluy, a member of the ACP's board of directors, emphasised that the effects of imports were becoming particularly noticeable in the border regions of Podkarpacie and Lublin voivodeships.

Polish manufacturers complain that Ukraine is not covered by the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS), meaning that Polish-made cement is at a cost disadvantage. This is known as ‘carbon leakage.’

Peru: National cement shipments in April 2025 fell by 1% year-on-year to 958,000t, matching the cumulative figure for the past 12 months. Cement production dropped by 2% year-on-year to 855,000t, while clinker production also declined by 2% year-on-year to 786,000t. Clinker output was down by 9% between April 2024 and April 2025.

Cement exports rose by 4% year-on-year to 9400t in April 2025 and by 3% over the 12-month period. Clinker exports dropped by 1% year-on-year to 35,800t in April 2025 and by 28% from April 2024 to April 2025. Cement imports increased by 2% year-on-year to 54,000t in April 2025 and by 73% over the 12-month period. Clinker imports fell by 21% year-on-year to 70,000t in April 2025 but rose by 21% on a 12-month basis.

Spain: Cement consumption grew by 5% year-on-year to 4.88Mt in the first five months of 2025, despite a 3% fall in April 2025, attributed to the Easter period. Consumption increased by 6% to 15.1Mt from May 2024 - April 2025. Exports fell by 0.3% in April 2025 to 0.42Mt, a decrease of 1258t compared to April 2024. In the year-to-date, exports fell by 2% to 1.5Mt. However, they rose by 1% year-on-year in the last 12 months to 4.9Mt, almost 60,000t more than in the previous 12 months. Imports, meanwhile, dropped by 16% from January – April 2025, to 344,305t, but rose by 28% over the last 12 months.