CW Research: Growth outlook for world cement slides on Chinese weak demand

Global cement consumption is projected to average around two percent per year from 2016 to 2021. 

For 2017, demand is expected to grow following a 2.4 percent improvement in 2016 and surpass 4.1 billion tons. However, global ex-China cement consumption is projected to grow by an average annual rate of 4.0 percent until 2021.

ÔÇ£The continuing rebalancing of the Chinese economy to one driven by domestic consumption, has important implications for the global cement market, and has brought much needed stability in terms of demand expectations not only in 2016 but in the coming years", explains Robert Madeira, CW Group Managing Director & Head of Research.

Regional Dynamics

According to CW Research, world economy continued to experience varied growth in cement and clinker demand as regions including Africa and Asia ex-China continue to exhibit economic strong growth supported by sustained infrastructure investments.

In Africa, cement demand is expected to grow at an annual average rate of 4.0 percent, while in Asia ex-China cement demand will increase at a CAGR of 5.0 percent until 2021.

In the North American region, cement and clinker manufactures can expect demand to retain levels as we anticipated in our 2H2016 update.

CW Research also estimates that Latin America, the Middle East, and the CIS, will remain affected by wide-ranging macroeconomic and political issues in 2016. Therefore, cement consumption in the mentioned regions recorded negative growth in the previous year and is also expected to stay low in 2017.

Recovery across the globe

Overall, the 1H2015 Global Cement Volume Forecast Report (GCVFR) predicts gives the outlook for demand in Africa and the Asia ex-China regions remains robust, while Latin America, the Middle East, and the CIS are expected to fare better with a recovery in global crude oil prices.

Over the forecast period 2016 to 2021, CW Research analyst's project global (ex-China) cement consumption to expand by around four percent per year. Bright spots such as Asia (ex-China), North America and Africa provide optimism.

 Find out more about the report here.