Recently, the Ministry of Transport released the economic operation of transportation in April. From January to April, the investment in fixed assets of transportation in China reached 1001.6 billion yuan, down 3.3% from the same period last year. Among them, 714.5 billion yuan was invested in highways, down 9.1% from the same period last year.
Traditional investment in infrastructure construction is difficult to support strong demand for cement.
According to the statistics of China Cement Network Cement Big Data Research Institute, cement demand recovered slowly in the first quarter, and by the end of March, the cement shipment rate was only 36%, which was 7.4 percentage points lower than that of the same period. The Yangtze River Delta region, where
demand is relatively strong, is only 40%, down 33 percentage points from the same period, and demand is weakening significantly. Although many regions increased peak staggering and delayed kiln opening in the first quarter, manufacturers were slow to go to the warehouse under weak demand. At the end of March, the ratio of clinker storage capacity was 62.8%, which was at a high level in the same period.
The shipment rate
in the first quarter was lower than that in the same period (%). The ratio of clinker storage to capacity was at a high level (%).
The demand for cement declined and the price went down all the way. In the first quarter of 2024, there was almost no decent rebound in the national cement price trend, and the price went down all the way. By the end of March, the national cement price index recorded 105.45 points, down 7% from the beginning of January, down 25.4% from the same period last year, with only one week rising in 11 weeks, and the rest falling.
Cement prices 
in the first quarter opened low and went low (points) Weekly prices in the first quarter rose more or fell less (%)
Real estate drag is obvious, infrastructure support is insufficient, the cement industry is in the key node of transformation and upgrading, the industry must rationally face the current situation of insufficient demand, innovate and develop, and find new opportunities in the crisis.
