Brazil’s cement market grows by 4% in 2024
Cement sales in Brazil saw a 2.9 percent increase to 4.686Mt in December 2024 compared to 4.555Mt in December 2023, as reported by SNIC, the country’s cement association. In Brazil’s largest market, the southeast, sales volumes dipped by 0.8 percent YoY to 2.063Mt in December 2024 from 2.079Mt, while in the northeast, volumes rose by 14.3 percent YoY to 1.138Mt from 0.996Mt over the same period. The south experienced a decline of 0.3 percent in sales to 0.717Mt from 0.719Mt, and the central-west reported a 1.7 percent YoY increase to 0.524Mt from 0.515Mt. The northern market, the smallest in the country, witnessed a 0.8 percent YoY decrease in sales to 0.244Mt from 0.246Mt in December 2023.
The growth of the market is attributed by SNIC to the ongoing improvements in the labor market, the rise in population income, and the positive impact of the resumption of construction work under the Minha Casa, Minha Vida program on the real estate sector. Despite this positive growth trend, SNIC highlighted challenges such as increasing labor costs, high interest rates, debt, and default rates. Changes in housing financing have also made it challenging to secure new loans as funds available through the Brazilian Savings and Loan System have become scarce, necessitating the need to explore other means of funding for real estate credit to meet the rising housing demand.
Exports of cement from Brazil experienced a significant decline of 55.6 percent YoY to 4000t in December 2024 from 9000t in December 2023. In the full-year 2024 sales, the Brazilian cement market expanded by 4.2 percent, reaching 64.652Mt, compared to 62.074Mt in 2023.
The north saw the most significant increase in sales with volumes growing by 10.2 percent YoY to 3.106Mt from 2.818Mt. The northeast also saw a substantial increase in sales by 7.5 percent YoY to 13.559Mt from 12.509Mt in 2023. Demand in the south rose by 3.5 percent YoY to 10.748Mt from 10.382Mt, while dispatches to the southeast were up 2.8 percent to 29.718Mt in 2024 compared to 28.904Mt in 2023. The central-west reported a minor advance of 2.2 percent to 7.521Mt in 2024 from 7.361Mt in 2023.
Commenting on the performance of the Brazilian cement industry in 2024, SNIC President Paulo Camillo Penna noted the alignment with projections due to a boom in the real estate market linked to the resumption of the Minha Casa, Minha Vida program and transportation infrastructure projects. Extreme weather conditions throughout the year, such as above-average temperatures and rainfall, further impacted construction schedules and cement sales in Brazil. While the domestic market saw substantial growth, exports experienced a sharp decline of 67.6 percent YoY to 66,000t from 204,000t in 2023.
