On October 9, China Cement Network Market Data Center reported that by early October, the actual transaction price of Anhui cement had basically fallen back to the level before the price increase in mid-late September. From a nationwide perspective, although the cement market has come to the traditional peak season, the overall situation is not good.
This year, the domestic cement market has shown a clear trend of high opening and low going, and the national cement price index of China Cement Network has been declining almost all the way since the beginning of the year. As of October 9, the national cement price index was 319.52 points, down 60.75 points from the same period last year (that is, the current national cement average price was about 60 yuan/ton lower than same period last year), down 15.98%.
At present, the market demand of building materials industry, including cement, is sluggish, structural problems are prominent, and the task of steady growth of the industry is arduous. In order to implement the spirit of the Central Economic Work Conference and promote the smooth operation and structural optimization and upgrading of the building materials industry. On September 24, the Work Program for Steady Growth of Building Materials Industry (2025-2026) was officially released. The main objectives of the
Plan are as follows: from 2025 to 2026, the building materials industry will recover well, the profitability level will be effectively improved, the scientific and technological innovation ability of the industry will be continuously enhanced, and the scale of green building materials and advanced inorganic non-metallic materials industry will continue to grow, of which the business income of green building materials will exceed 300 billion yuan in 2026. The level of green, low-carbon and digital development has been significantly improved.
Then, on October 9, the National Development and Reform Commission and the General Administration of Market Supervision jointly issued the Notice on Governing Price Disorderly Competition and Maintaining Good Market Price Order. Seven measures are clearly put forward.
1. For commodities and services with market-adjusted prices, operators shall, in accordance with the provisions of the Price Law of the People's Republic of China, abide by the principles of fairness, legality and good faith, take the cost of production and operation and the situation of market supply and demand as the basic basis, exercise their independent pricing power according to law, consciously maintain the order of market prices and maintain market prices. Jointly create a market environment of fair competition and orderly competition.
2. For key industries with prominent problems of disorderly price competition, trade associations and other relevant institutions, under the guidance of the National Development and Reform Commission, the General Administration of Market Supervision and the competent departments of the industry, can investigate and evaluate the average cost of the industry and provide reference for operators to make reasonable pricing.
3. Development, reform and market supervision departments should strengthen policy publicity and implementation in conjunction with industry authorities, prompt operators to operate in accordance with the law and regulations, and improve product quality and service level. Operators suspected of disorderly price competition are reminded and warned to consciously regulate price behavior and strictly abide by the bottom line of price competition.
4. The development, reform and market supervision departments shall pay special attention to the operators who have not yet standardized their price behavior after warning, carry out cost investigation and price supervision and inspection when necessary, and investigate and punish those who have found price violations according to law.
5. Operators shall strictly abide by the provisions of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Tendering and Bidding and the Regulations on the Implementation of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Tendering and Bidding, consciously standardize the conduct of tendering and bidding, and shall not bid at a price lower than cost, so as to ensure the quality of products and services.
6. Trade associations shall strictly abide by the provisions of the Price Law of the People's Republic of China and the Anti-monopoly Law of the People's Republic of China, promote industry self-discipline and guide operators to jointly maintain fair competition order in the industry.
7. The State Development and Reform Commission and the General Administration of Market Supervision will work closely with relevant departments to monitor market price competition and maintain price order in key areas. Give full play to the role of credit supervision and implement punishment for dishonesty in accordance with the law and regulations. The publication of
the Work Program for Steady Growth of Building Materials Industry (2025-2026) and the Announcement on Controlling Price Disorderly Competition and Maintaining Good Market Price Order provide policy support for the cement industry to stabilize the market situation. However, in the context of downward demand, the cement industry needs to jointly promote "anti-involution" in order to achieve a steady recovery of the market situation.
According to the author's communication with many cement enterprises, price wars have broken out in Shaanxi, Ningxia, Guizhou and other places since this year, mainly because of the differences in market share and kiln shutdown time under the background of downward demand.
Taking Shaanxi as an example, due to the conflict between two major enterprises in the region in the competition for a certain customer, and then the price war, the price of cement once dropped to 130-140 yuan/ton, and even appeared the situation of credit sales. In addition, in many provinces, there are different views among different enterprises on whether the off-peak production time needs to be adjusted after the enterprises have completed their production capacity, which aggravates the instability of the market.
Faced with the current situation of the industry, the industry should recognize the urgent need to actively respond to the central policy guidance, consciously maintain the market price order, jointly create a fair and orderly competitive market environment, resolutely resist the "involution" vicious competition, and maintain the development trend of the industry with its own practical actions.
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