Cement production volumes decreased in Russia

Against the background of reduced consumption in Russia, 2.6 million tons of cement were produced in January, which is 11.3% less year-on-year. About it informed “Kommersant” with reference to the data of “Soyuzcement” (unites large holdings of the industry).

It is specified that in January cement consumption decreased by 8.1% in annual terms, to 2.5 million tons. At the same time, in February, consumption amounted to 3.2 million tons, which is 8.6% lower compared to February 2022. Over the same period, production decreased by 5.9% and amounted to 3.2 million tons, follows from the data “ Soyuzcement”.

It is assumed that consumption volumes will not begin to grow this year. On the contrary, by the end of the year they will decrease by 10-20%. Soyuzcement believes that such dynamics is caused by stagnation in the entire construction industry. In particular, in January, the number of new projects was half as compared to January 2022. At the same time, the Far East became the only region that increased cement production, where the output of this product increased by 19% due to the significant volume of construction.

The analytical company SMPRO noted that the decrease in consumption is not the only problem of the industry. In particular, according to the results of the first quarter, the volume of imports increased by 45%. According to Soyuzcement, the total import of cement in 2023 may reach 5-7 million tons against 2.2 million tons last year. Analysts noted an increase in the supply of cement from Iran, Kazakhstan and Belarus. The export of cement against the backdrop of anti-Russian sanctions, on the contrary, decreased in January by 16% in annual terms, to 0.07 million tons.

Analysts believe that this situation may lead to the forced closure of enterprises against the backdrop of a surplus of their own capacities. In particular, Denis Usoltsev, head of the technical marketing department at Cemros, warned that 3-4 plants were at risk, the cost of production of which was becoming uncompetitive due to high costs. According to Vitaly Bogachenko, director of corporate relations at Cementum, the increase in production costs amounted to 17%. In this regard, Soyuzcement proposes to introduce measures of non-tariff regulation of imports.