Wedoany.com Report on Mar 13th, In 2025, Russia's domestic cement consumption saw a significant decline, with the annual consumption falling to 60.7 million tons, a decrease of approximately 9% compared to the previous year. This data reflects a deep contraction in Russia's construction sector activity, primarily influenced by factors such as the termination of the government's "preferential mortgage" program and rising real interest rates. Housing construction demand weakened substantially, with the number of new projects launched by real estate developers dropping by nearly 40%. Concurrently, public fiscal expenditure continued shifting from civilian infrastructure to the defense and military sector, leading to a downward trend in cement consumption for infrastructure projects as well.

Looking at the regional breakdown, the Siberian Federal District experienced the most pronounced decline in cement consumption, falling by about 16% year-on-year. This was followed by the Southern and Ural Federal Districts, both down approximately 13% year-on-year. The Volga and Far Eastern Federal Districts saw declines of 11% and 10% year-on-year, respectively. The Northwestern, North Caucasus, and Central Federal Districts recorded relatively smaller decreases, down 8%, 6%, and 3% year-on-year, respectively. This aligns with the trend reflected in the first-half data, where the Southern (-14%), Ural (-13%), and Siberian (-11%) districts had already registered the largest declines.

The market weakness has put pressure on the performance of major cement companies. Russia's largest cement producer, Cemros, suspended production at its Belgorod and Ulyanovsk plants in mid-2025 and shifted its 13,000 employees across 18 cement plants to a four-day work week. According to S&P Global, Denis Usoltsev, Cemros' Marketing and Strategic Analysis Director, stated: "This has effectively pushed the market back to the levels seen during the COVID-19 restrictions of 2020-2021." The Russian Cement Association had previously forecasted a potential 6-12% decline in cement consumption for 2025, with the actual figure falling at the lower end of this range.