Cement sales in Brazil declined three per cent YoY to 5.209Mt in April 2025 from 5.371Mt, reports the Brazilian cement association, SNIC. The largest drop was seen in the country's largest market, the southeast, where sales fell 7.8 per cent YoY to 2.328Mt in April 2025 from 2.526Mt. In the south, sales declined 1.1 per cent YoY to 0.91Mt from 0.92Mt over the same period. While other regions saw moderate market expansion, this was insufficient to offset the contraction of the markets in southern Brazil. The northeast, the country's second-largest market, reported a 3.1 per cent uptick in sales to 1.119Mt in April 2024 from 1.085Mt in April 2024 while the central-west saw sales grow by 0.5 per cent YoY to 0.603Mt from 0.6Mt in the year-ago period. In the north, sales edged up by 3.8 per cent YoY to 0.249Mt in April 2025 from 0.24Mt.
Brazil exported 6000t of cement in April 2025, up 20 per cent YoY from 5000t in April 2024.
January-April 2025
Total domestic cement sales improved 4.2 per cent YoY to 20.871Mt in the first four months of 2025 from 20.037Mt in the 4M24.
In the southeast there was a 2.7 per cent uptick in sales to 9.511Mt in the 4M25 from 9.262Mt in the 4M24.
Market expansion was the largest in the northeast, where sales grew 8.5 per cent YoY to 4.476Mt from 4.125Mt. In the south, sales increased by five per cent YoY to 3.649Mt from 3.474Mt while in the central-west, sales ticked along with a 0.6 per cent improvement to 2.271Mt from 2.258Mt in the 4M24. Sales in the north advanced by five per cent YoY to 0.964Mt in the 4M25 from 0.918Mt in the year-ago period. "The positive result of the year to date is attributed to the heating up of the labour market and the population's income, with workers' salaries reaching the highest value recorded since 2012. The improvement in expectations for the coming months, mainly regarding the local economic situation, increased consumer confidence for the second consecutive month," said SNIC.
However, the real estate market showed a drop in the number of launches in terms of 2M25 when compared with the 2M4, with cement sector performance attributed to works started in the past, according to the cement association. It views recent changes to Minha Casa, Minha Vida housing programme as key to the continued positive performance of the industry. The programme now includes families with incomes of up to BRL12,000 (US$2112). But economic uncertainty remains with the high base interest rate, defaults and household debts impacting construction confidence, which fell to its lowest level in April since March 2022. A lack of qualified labour and a reduction in real estate inventories are adding to the sector's downside risks.
Exports slipped by four per cent in the four-month period to 24,000t from 25,000t in the 4M24.
