Cement dispatches in Brazil advanced by 7.6 per cent YoY to 5.107Mt in February 2025 from 4.748Mt in February 2024, according to the country’s cement association, SNIC. Sales were supported by a buoyant labour market, where formal employment grew, increasing the wage bill and GDP. In addition, the real estate market performed well as sales and launches of new properties continued to expand, driven mainly by the Minha Casa, Minha Vida programme.

However, the lack of labour and rising costs are impacting construction confidence, which has dropped to its worst level since March 2022. Furthermore, a reduction of availability of credit via Brazil’s savings and loan system, SBPE, and FGTS, is expected to affect investments and slow down the number of real estate launches, reducing supply. 

Consumers are also affected by pessimism as they remained less confident as food inflation increased for the third-consecutive time and interest rates rose. 

In regional terms, sales showed strong growth in the northeast, up 16.6 per cent YoY to 1.089Mt in February 2025 from 0.934Mt while the southeast, the country’s largest market, posted sales of 2.334Mt, representing an increase of 7.7 per cent YoY from 2.167Mt. Growth was also robust in the north as dispatches saw a 6.5 per cent advance to 0.231Mt in February 2025 from 0.217Mt in February 2024. The central-west saw a more muted uptick of 3.3 per cent YoY to 0.564Mt from 0.546Mt over the same period. In the south, deliveries edged up by 0.6 per cent YoY to 0.889Mt from 0.884Mt.  

Exports fell by 22.2 per cent YoY to 7000t in February 2025 from 9000t in the year-ago period. 

January-February 2025
In the first two months of 2025 domestic cement dispatches advanced 6.5 per cent YoY to 10.282Mt when compared with the equivalent period of the previous year, when dispatches reached 9.658Mt. 

In the southeast deliveries were up 6.6 per cent YoY to 4.67Mt from 4.381Mt in the 2M24 while the northeast saw a 10.9 per cent increase YoY to 2.238Mt from 2.018Mt. In the south, dispatches were up six per cent to 1.794Mt in the 2M25 from 1.692Mt in the 2M24. However, the central-west reported a 0.3 per cent drop in dispatches to 1.104Mt in the 2M25 from 1.107Mt in the year-ago period. Deliveries in the north edged up by 3.5 per cent YoY to 0.476Mt from 0.46Mt. 

Exports in the January-February 2025 period saw a 23.5 per cent drop to 13,000t from 17,000t in the equivalent period of 2024. 

Outlook
Looking ahead, the cement industry remains fairly optimistic and focussed on decarbonisation. “Decarbonisation is a priority for Brazil, and the cement sector has a strategic role in this process. Our industry is at the forefront of debates on the climate agenda, as one of the global references for low emissions in its production process, the result of a strategy that has been consolidated over the last two decades, in raw materials (additions) and alternative fuels (co-processing), as well as in improving its energy efficiency. The sector is the first in the country to have a Decarbonisation Roadmap, and is updating its bases for neutralising emissions by 2050,” said Paulo Camillo Penna, SNIC president.