Global Cement News

South Korea: Domestic cement consumption fell by 22% year-on-year to 8.12Mt in the first quarter of 2025, the lowest figure for first-quarter sales in five years, according to Chosun Biz news. This marks a 32% (3.9Mt) drop from the 2023 peak of 12Mt. A domestic decline of more than 20% in the first quarter has not been seen since the 1998 financial crisis. At that time, first-quarter domestic sales decreased by 23% to 8.9Mt.

Cement companies have seen a corresponding decline in revenue. Hanil Cement’s operating profit dropped by 75% year-on-year to US$9m, Asia Cement’s fell by 70% year-on-year to US$2.4m and SAMPYO Cement’s declined by 90% to US$1.15m. Ssangyong C&E and Sungshin Cement both reported operating losses of US$19m and US$4.4m respectively.

A Cement Association representative said "For the time being, the decrease in domestic cement consumption is likely to continue, and management performance will further deteriorate. Unless a groundbreaking measure to overcome the construction market slump emerges, the forecast of 40Mt of domestic cement consumption in 2025 seems doubtful."

Nigeria: BUA CEO Abdul Samad Rabiu said that the company has agreed with Dangote Group to freeze the price of cement for retailers involved in President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda projects.

“We have decided that we are going to freeze the price of cement for any contractor that is involved with the Renewed Hope project.” Rabiu said. He added “There will be no increase for the foreseeable future.”

The Premium Times newspaper reported that it was not able to obtain a confirmation from Dangote Group about the price freeze.

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.

Peru: Cemento Yura, a subsidiary of Grupo Gloria, has launched a 28MW photovoltaic plant, the first in the Peruvian cement sector, according to M-Brain News.

The 45-hectare facility consists of 51,264 photovoltaic modules and will generate 80.65GW/yr of electricity, covering around 30% of the Yura cement plant’s energy needs. The project cost US$23.5m.

India: Shree Cement recorded sales of US$2.38bn in the 2025 financial year, down by 5.5% year-on-year. Operating expenses increased by 2.9% to US$2.17bn, resulting in earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of US$528m, down by 12% year-on-year. Net profit dropped by 50% to US$141m.

Shree Cement said that the fourth quarter of the 2025 financial year brought cement sales of 9.84Mt, up by 3.3% year-on-year from 9.53Mt in the fourth quarter of the 2024 financial year. Premium products contributed 16% of sales.