Cement dispatches in Brazil advanced 3.7 per cent YoY in December 2025 to 4.875Mt from 4.654Mt, according to the national cement association, SNIC.
Growth was strongest in the northeast, where deliveries were up 9.1 per cent YoY to 1.234Mt from 1.131Mt, but the country’s largest market, the southeast, also saw robust growth, noting a 5.1 per cent YoY increase in dispatches to 2.145Mt from 2.041Mt in December 2024. In the south, the market expanded by 4.5 per cent YoY to 0.749Mt from 0.717Mt while in the north, sales were up 2.9 per cent YoY to 0.251Mt from 0.244Mt in December 2024. Only in the central-west deliveries declined, by 4.8 per cent, from 0.521Mt in December 2024 to 0.496Mt, said SNIC.
The association also highlighted the macroeconomic contrasts seen in 2025: “One one hand, the sector was boosted by the heating up of the labour market: unemployment fell to 5.2 per cent in November — the lowest in the historical series, with 5.6m unemployed people — while the employed population reached a record 103m and average income registered the highest value ever recorded, expanding the wage bill, which has a strong correlation with the sector's sales.
“On the other hand, the economy faced a slowdown in GDP throughout the year and a contractionary monetary policy. The Selic rate reached 15 per cent in June and remained at this level throughout 2025, the highest level since July 2006. This situation reduced mortgage lending via savings (SBPE). The situation was aggravated by high indebtedness (compromising 49.1 per cent of the population's income) and record defaults, which reached 80.4m people in October, the highest in the series. In addition, there was strong competition for the family budget with electronic betting. In the housing construction sector, the Minha Casa, Minha Vida (MCMV) programme has established itself as an essential driver for the cement industry. In the year to September, program launches grew by 7.9 per cent, while sales registered a 15.5 per cent increase. The North region stood out, where the program accounted for 60 per cent of real estate launches. The Southeast region had the highest number of units launched, with 34,099 properties in the third quarter,” said SNIC.
The infrastructure sector saw continued investment and was also boosted by the increased use of concrete in pavements.
“The performance of the Brazilian cement industry in 2025 was in line with SNIC's projections, supported by the Minha Casa, Minha Vida programme and the advancement in infrastructure, strengthening concrete pavement as a strategic and sustainable solution. We also celebrate the success of our environmental agenda, with a record in co-processing and the launch of the Net Zero Roadmap during COP 30. We closed the year consolidating the recovery, but attentive to the economic situation, especially the Selic rate and the impact of indebtedness on family income,” said Paulo Camillo Penna , president of SNIC.
In terms of exports, there was a 25 per cent drop in volumes to 3000t in December 2025 when compared with the equivalent month of 2024, when exports reached 4000t.
January-December 2025
In the full-year 2025 period, Brazil’s cement market grew 3.7 per cent YoY to 66.984Mt from 64.407Mt in 2024.
In the southeast, dispatches were up 2.7 per cent YoY to 30.486Mt from 29.687Mt in 2024. The northeast, the country’s second-largest market, reported the strongest growth at 7.2 per cent YoY to 14.533Mt from 13.552Mt in 2024. In the south there was a 3.1 per cent increase in dispatches to 11.077Mt in 2025 from 10.747Mt in 2024, while in the central-western region sales edged up by 1.9 per cent YoY to 7.661Mt from 7.517Mt. Deliveries in the north saw a four per cent uptick to 3.227Mt from 3.104Mt over the same period.
Exports were down 4.5 per cent YoY to 63,000t in 2025 when compared with 66,000t in 2024.
