High population growth and an increasing need for housing and infrastructure have meant that Australia’s cement market has been more closely aligned with trends more characteristic of emerging markets than a mature one. Competition remains fierce and the decisions that resident cement producers make in this period will be critical to their future success. By Marilyn Gardner, MGardner Consultancy, Australia.
Australia’s cement market is in transition as it adapts to the challenges of higher clinker and cement imports and new carbon taxes. The response has been fairly swift with independent regional producers gaining market share along the east and west coasts and a drive by the industry as a whole to become more efficient.
The country’s economic strength has provided the platform for much of the stability of recent years and unlike European markets, it has not been hit severely by financial or currency problems. However, Australia has not been immune from its own difficulties.
