The cement industry is going through a tough time because of the downturn in the construction market. According to the Korea Cement Association, cement shipments in the first half of 2025 (January-June) were 18.88 million tons, down 17.4% from the same period last year. Since 1992 (19.76 million tons), this is the first time in 33 years that shipments in the first half of the year have fallen below 20 million tons. Compared with 26.04 million tons in the first half of 2023, the shipment volume dropped by 27.5%. The performance of
cement enterprises in the first half of the year also declined sharply. Ssangyong C & E reported an operating profit of 334 billion won in the first half of the year, down 57.0% from the same period last year. The operating profits of Korea-Japan Cement and Asia Cement were 645 billion won and 505 billion won respectively, down 60.3% and 43.5% respectively. The operating profit of Sanbiao Cement also decreased by 47.5% to 305 billion won. The performance of major enterprises has shrunk dramatically, and some people even lament that it is "more difficult than IMF period".
Although cement companies have yet to report third-quarter results, they are expected to improve. Financial information company FNGuide forecasts Asia Cement's third-quarter operating profit will reach 609 billion won, up 114.4% from the same period last year. The operating profit of Korea and Japan Cement in the third quarter is expected to be 695 billion won, a decline of only 5.1%. "The cement industry is facing unprecedented difficulties due to the downturn in the construction market," said Li Shanyi, a researcher
at BNK Investment Securities. However, we are optimistic that the reduction trend of cement domestic demand will ease in the second half of the year. He further explained, "In the second half of last year and the first half of this year, domestic demand decreased significantly, mainly because many construction projects were delayed due to funding problems.". Considering these factors, it is expected that the downturn in the cement industry will improve in the second half of the year.
In order to get out of the predicament, cement enterprises are working hard to develop new technologies and expand exports. Hanyi Cement completed its merger with Hanyi Hyundai Cement in July this year to cope with industry uncertainty and improve operating efficiency by reducing duplicate investment and reducing costs. In addition, Korea-Japan Cement has cooperated with Korea-Japan Industry to develop a kind of "super-maintaining concrete" which can maintain stable quality in high temperature and long-distance transportation. Compared with ordinary concrete, which will start to set within 90 minutes without pouring, the working time of this concrete can be more than twice as long as that of ordinary concrete. On
the export side, from January to September, China imported 49,200 tons of cement clinker , of which 49,100 tons came from South Korea, accounting for 99.8%, and South Korea became China's largest source of cement clinker imports. In addition, Ssangyong C & E exported "low-carbon limestone cement" to the United States for the first time last year and plans to continue to increase its exports to the United States. Halla Cement is also pushing ahead with export expansion plans. The company is no longer confined to South American markets such as Peru and Chile, but seeks to expand sales channels in Africa and other regions.
Sanping Cement regards the investment field of automatic robots as the new business of the group, and is committed to developing products in environmental protection and special fields. Although companies have made various efforts to overcome the crisis, industry stakeholders point out that these efforts have limitations. They believe that only the recovery of the real estate and construction market can really improve the performance of the cement industry.
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