Domestic cement demand continues to decline in Iran

Iranian domestic cement sales contracted 2.5 per cent YoY to 5.919Mt in October, down from 6.070Mt a year earlier, according to the Iranian cement association.   

Contrastingly, producers manufactured 6.607Mt of cement and 7.247Mt of clinker, increases of 3.4 per cent YoY and 4.6 per cent YoY respectively, when compared with October 2023. 

A total of 1.215Mt of cement and clinker were exported in October, an increase of 6.6 per cent YoY, bolstered by higher cement exports, which rose 30.4 per cent YoY to 612,860t. Meanwhile, clinker exports fell 10.1 per cent YoY to 602,141t.  

January-October 2024 

In the first three quarters of 2024, cement consumption in Iran slipped 1.8 per cent to 53.479Mt, down from 54.480Mt in the same period of 2023.  

Cement production totalled 57.815Mt, up one 7.6 per cent YoY from 57.270Mt in January-October 2023. Clinker production was 59.472Mt, down 3.5 per cent YoY from 61.650Mt.  

Cement and clinker exports totalled 10.789Mt in the January to October period, down 5.3 per cent YoY from 11.398Mt in the same period of 2023. Cement exports increased to 4.922Mt over the period, up 23.1 per cent YoY from 3.997Mt, while clinker exports were down 20.7 per cent YoY to 5.867Mt from 7.401Mt.  

Iran is the fourth most important cement exporter globally, after Vietnam, Turkey and Germany. Furthermore, despite the downturn in clinker exports since 2021, Iran is the fourth most important clinker exporter globally, after Vietnam, the UAE and Indonesia. 

Despite economic sanctions exports are forecast expand heading forward, with sales directed mainly to Bangladesh, Iraq, Kuwait, India and Russia. The weaker Iranian rial and improving economic prospects in export markets will support demand for Iranian cement and clinker.