Brazilian cement demand grew by 4% in 2025, and the market performance for the whole year was in line with expectations. Cement shipments in December increased by 3.7% year-on-year to 4.875 million tons, with significant regional differences. The Northeast saw the strongest growth, up 9.1% year-on-year to 1.234 million tons; the largest Southeast market also achieved a solid growth of 5.1% to 2.145 million tons; the South market increased by 4.5% to 749,000 tons; the North increased by 2.9% to 251,000 tons; and the Midwest decreased by 4.8% to 496,000 tons.
In 2025, the macro-economy showed a complex pattern. On the one hand, the recovery of the labor market has injected momentum into the industry, with the unemployment rate falling to a record low of 5.2% in November, the employment population reaching a record 103 million, the average income reaching a record high, and the total wage volume expanding, which is highly correlated with cement sales. On the other hand, GDP growth slowed throughout the year, monetary policy tightened, and Selic interest rates remained at 15% throughout the year after rising to 15% in June, the highest level since July 2006, leading to a decline in savings mortgages. High debt ratios (49.1% of household income) and a record number of defaults (80.4 million in October) also weighed.
The "My Home, My Life" housing project has become an important driving force for the cement industry. As of September, the number of projects started increased by 7.9% year-on-year, and sales increased by 15.5%. The North was the strongest performer, accounting for 60% of property starts, while the South East had the highest number of starts in the third quarter, with 34.09 million properties. Infrastructure investment continues to increase, and the increase in the use of pavement concrete has also brought a boost. The annual cement market grew by 3.7% to 66.984 million tons, while exports fell by 4.5% to 63000 tons.
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