Russia’s biggest cement company proposes national import limit

The Russian federal government should impose a short-term limit on cement imports to protect domestic producers from a downturn in demand, according to Cemros, Russia's largest cement company.

Cemros has proposed an annual import limit of "no more than" 1.5 million mt/year of cement, in order to maintain the use of Russian production capacities in the face of a downturn in domestic demand. Building activity in Russia is under pressure from high interest rates, which reached an all-time high of 21% over November-May, before being cut to 18% in July.

Russian cement producers also face growing competition from foreign imports, particularly from Belarus.

Cemros said in a statement Aug. 11 that foreign producers were "skimming the cream" of construction support measures introduced over 2020-2023 by the Russian government. "It is significant that from 2019 to 2024, the total capacity of the Russian consumer market grew by less than 16%, while imports of construction materials almost tripled," it said.

Figures from Russia's Union of Cement Producers, or Soyuzcement, show the country consumed around 66 million mt of cement in 2024, but is on track to fall well short of that total in 2025. Consumption in the first half of the year fell 8.6% year over year to 27.2 million mt.

Cemros also said it would adopt a four-day working week from Oct. 1 in order to avoid laying off staff.