A balance from the National Cement Industry Union (SNIC) on production in 2024 revealed growth in the annual production of the input, the basis of civil construction and one of the raw materials that most influence prices in the sector. According to SNIC, last year, 64.7 million tons were sold, an increase of 3.9% compared to 2023 and a balance of 2 million tons.
The region with the biggest increase was the North, the smallest market in the country, with a percentage of 10%, which represents just over 10% of what consumed the Southeast, where growth was 2.8%. The result could have been better, but the effects of extreme weather, with floods in Rio Grande do Sul and widespread droughts in the center of the country, slowed part of sales.
The sector had two consecutive drops, 2.8% in 2022 and 0.89% in 2023. The current level is still almost 10 million tons below that sold in 2014, when 73 million tons of cement were sold in the country. At the time, the Growth Acceleration Program (PAC) 2 had increased investments in infrastructure, shortly before the economic crisis, which lasted until 2017 and impacted public and private investments in the sector.
In a statement, the National Union of the Cement Industry attributed the positive performance to the continuous improvement in the job market and the population’s income, with an increase in wages and a warming up of the real estate market, driven by the resumption of works under the Minha Casa, Minha Vida program. .
The construction sector, however, faced pressure against investments with the increase in interest rates, labor costs and the maintenance of high levels of debt and default. The employer expressed concern about the decrease in resources for housing financing and the increase in the commitment of family income, with the impact of the increase in sports betting on family budgets. For the sector, in direct reasoning, less money in circulation means less investment in new properties and also in small renovations, as retail sales still have considerable weight in the sector, estimated at more than 50% of total sales.
Civil construction representatives criticized the delay in releasing resources from the current PAC module, which suffered cuts. For the industry, there are also doubts about the behavior of the external market, as the price of the dollar affects civil construction and investments in infrastructure. This impact can be reduced with the regulation of the carbon market in the country, as the sector has increased the volume of industrial waste used as raw material for cement, reducing the consumption of fossil fuels, mainly to feed industrial furnaces.
The union’s technical note also predicts growth of around 1% this year, linked to the implementation of planned investments in housing, sanitation and logistics projects, which are expected to have concession rounds in the first half of 2025.
