Brazilian cement market contracts 2% in 9M23

Cement sales in Brazil declined by 4.6 per cent YoY to 5.222Mt in September 2023 from 5.476Mt, according to the Brazilian cement association, SNIC. High basic interest rates of 12.75 per cent continue to impact the amount of real state financing for construction, which had a reduction of 44 per cent in the period up to August 2023 when compared with the previous year. In addition, the recovery of population income continues to slow and there remains a high level of household debt, which reached 47.8 per cent in July 2023, very close to the peak of 50 per cent in July 2022, reports the association.

“The beginning of the cycle of cutting the economy's basic interest rate points to a good direction for the resumption of growth, but new vectors must be incorporated into it that induce the development of infrastructure and the better dynamics of important programs in the field of sanitation and housing, among others,” said SNIC President, Paulo Camillo Penna.

Sales in the southeast, the country’s largest market, fell by 3.2 per cent YoY to 2.434Mt in September 2023 from 2.515Mt while in the northeast sales were down 6.7 per cent to 1.024Mt from 1.098Mt in the year-ago period. Demand in the south dropped by 8.1 per cent YoY to 0.837Mt from 0.911Mt. In the central-west it slipped by 2.6 per cent to 0.668Mt in September 2023 from 0.686Mt in September 2022. A similar drop was reported in the north to 0.259Mt from 0.266Mt over the same period.

In addition, Brazil’s cement producers exported 16,000t of cement in September 2023, which represents a 63.6 per cent drop when compared with September 2022, when 44,000t of cement was exported.

January-September 2023
In the first nine months of 2023, cement sales in Brazil slipped by 1.7 per cent to 46.678Mt from 47.475Mt in the 9M22.

The southeast market saw a minor decline in sales volumes by 0.9 per cent YoY to 21.819Mt from 22.018Mt while the northeast reported the only increase in sales in the country by 0.3 per cent YoY to 9.306Mt in the 9M23 from 9.279Mt in the year-ago period. In the south, 9M sales decreased by 3.8 per cent YoY to 7.953Mt from 8.264Mt in the 9M22. Off-take in the central-west fell 3.9 per cent YoY to 5.553Mt from 5.779Mt while in the north sales dropped 4.1 per cent YoY to 2.047Mt from 2.135Mt in the 9M22.

Exports saw a 46.5 per cent drop to 168,000t in the 9M23 from 314,000t in the 9M22.