Cement consumption in Ukraine increased 17% in 2023

Cement consumption in Ukraine rose by 17 per cent last year, up 5.4Mt compared to 2022, says Pablo Kachur, head of the country's cement association, Ukrcement Association.

“A similar jump is not predicted this year, but we will probably get 6Mt of domestic cement consumption,” said the representative.

Ukraine’s peak pre-war consumption was 10.6Mt (2021), according to The Global Cement Report, 15th Edition. This figure fell to 4.5Mt, following Russia’s invasion of the country in 2022, marking a decrease in market size of 57.6 per cent. 

Meanwhile, the country exported 1.24Mt of cement in 2023 and imported 23,000t of special cement that is not produced domestically.

Outlook
The outlook for Ukraine’s cement industry in the near term is firmly weighted to the downside amid the ongoing conflict with Russia. The volume of construction in Ukraine jumped a 33.3 per cent YoY in the first nine months of 2023, according to data from the national statistics office, Derzhstat. This follows a 49.1 per cent YoY contraction in 9M2022. However, overall volumes last year were just two-thirds of the pre-conflict levels. The residential construction volume is roughly half of pre-conflict levels despite growing 5.1 per cent YoY in the 9M23. House prices contracted 1.6 per cent YoY in 2023.

Post-war, massive infrastructure rebuilding, backed by both national and foreign spending, will boost cement demand. According to the KSE Institute from the Kyiv School of Economics, as of September 2023 damage to Ukraine’s infrastructure reached US$150.5bn, with over 160,000 buildings and structures damaged, including around 20,000 multi-storey buildings and roughly nine per cent of the total housing stock.

The Ukrcement Association notes it is ready to meet demand and add to production. Ukraine is home to 10 cement plants and has a cement capacity of 17.66Mta. The association has stated that “as well as the construction of new cement plants. Two enterprises are already considering the construction of two new clinker furnaces [kilns], which will increase the capacity to produce cement by 2.4Mta, but the start of construction will be appropriate after reaching the consumption level of 10.5Mt of cement”. Meanwhile, as part of Ukraine’s large-scale confiscation of Russian assets, the Kramatorsk cement plant Pushka is expected to be put up for auction.