Cement sales in Brazil increased 7.6 per cent YoY to 5.833Mt in June 2026 from 5.419Mt in June 2025, according to SNIC, the country’s cement association.
Sales growth was the largest in in the northeast, where the market expanded by 13.8 per cent YoY to 1.270Mt from 1.116Mt while in the country’s smallest sales region, the north, there was a 10.1 per cent increase YoY to 0.294Mt from 0.267Mt in June 2025. Brazil’s largest market, the southeast, saw sales grow by 4.2 per cent to 2.629Mt from 2.522Mt in the year-ago period. In the south, volumes advanced 9.7 per cent YoY to 0.952Mt from 0.868Mt while in the central-west there was 6.5 per cent increase to 0.688Mt from 0.646Mt.
Export shipments were up 33.3 per cent YoY to 8000t from 6000 in June 2025.
First-half 2026
For the January-June 2026 period, SNIC reported a 2.3 per cent uptick in Brazil’s cement sales from 32.071Mt to 32.824Mt.
The southeast was the only regional market to show a decline, slipping by 0.1 per cent YoY to 14.753Mt from 14.743Mt. Sales in the northeast advanced by 7.8 per cent YoY to 7.304Mt from 6.773Mt in the 1H25 while in the south they picked up by 2.5 per cent YoY to 5.624Mt from 5.488Mt. In the central-west they increased by 1.1 per cent YoY to 3.852Mt from 3.544Mt. There was also a 3.9 per cent increase in the north where volumes went up from 1.503Mt to 1.561Mt.
However, in the 1H25 there was a 22.9 per cent drop in export to 27,000t from 35,000t in 1H25.
Key drivers and risks
The growth in cement sales was underpinned by a robust labour market, with unemployment in the quarter ending May at 5.6 per cent YoY, the lowest rate since 2012. In addition, the Minha Casa, Minha Vida public housing programme was the key sales driver in the real estate market. In the infrastructure segment the acceleration of rigid concrete pavement road projects aligns with the Ministry of Transport’s new emissions reduction guidelines and is set to generate increased cement demand.
Downside risks in terms of sector profitability are the sharp rise in input costs as freight rates and petcoke prices saw 30 per cent increases in the year to date. In addition, a potential shift to a 5x2 work schedule is forecast to increase labour costs by about 15 per cent. Furthermore, the Selic rate is forecast to end the year at 14 per cent, slowing the pace of rate cuts, and increasing the cost of housing finance. Household debt also remains high.
“The sector closes the first half of the year with a positive performance. Declining unemployment and a total wage bill at historic levels were key factors in this outcome. Housing—particularly the Minha Casa, Minha Vida programme —combined with the acceleration of rigid-pavement road projects and concrete roadways, played a decisive role in our growth,” said José Eduardo Ramos, president of Cimento Nacional and board chairman of SNIC/ABCP.
“The economic landscape calls for caution: rising inflation, upward revisions to interest rate (Selic) projections, and record levels of household debt continue to severely constrain credit capacity and consumer spending. Nevertheless, the sector maintains its outlook of ending the year with growth of close to two per cent,” he added.
