Production trends and usages of cement
Market demands
Increased use of cement allowed for an accelerated growth of the construction industry, particularly of concrete constructions, but also the reverse, the development of the construction industry presented cement producers with increased requirements, which were gradually overcome.
Designers and drafters require high-strength cements, with particular emphasis on the dynamics of hardening, but other specific characteristics as well: decreased heat of hydration for the construction of massive concrete constructions, increased chemical resistance (primarily sulfates and acid medias) , less shrinking and other demands. In all this, maximum attention is dedicated to uniformity of content, meaning at the same time the usable qualities of cement.
Cement is an unavoidable raw material in all aspects of construction, from construction of house buildings, business and industrial buildings and installations, bridges, tunnels and roads, ending with subterranean works and subsoils. In other words, whenever and wherever concrete and mortar are required, that is:
- Superplasticized concrete with high compressive strength – HPC concretes (High Performance Concretes);
- Prestressed constructions and concrete products;
- Precast concrete (lamp-post, kerb blocks, bearers for roof constructions, bearers for halls and crane rail);
- Concrete slabs for courtyards and squares;
- Concrete products requiring rapid de-installation or rapid de-installing of forms;
- Lightweight concretes, that is “cellular” or “hollow” concretes, gas concrete and foamed concrete;
- Classic concrete (pumping, self-compacting);
- Cement and flexible mortar;
- Dry mortars (adhesives for ceramic tiles and polystyrene, dry mixtures for concrete floors and pointing, ready-mix mortars for sanation or intended for injecting, grouting, mortars and mortars for plastering).
Up to now, concrete as a construction material has developed towards improvement of compressive strengths while in the future it is to be expected that improvements in other features will be attained as well, such as modulus of elasticity, flexural strength, dynamic strength, permeability and durability. Certain improvements have been attained in some mineral additives contained in cement, such as granulated blastfurnace slag, fly ash, limestone, etc.
World Production and World trends
Main World producers
Starting from the 2008 when world economy was affected by the macroeconomic crisis, global uncertainty in macroeconomic trends lasted until the second half of 2013 when clear signs of improvement in economic sentiment and growth perspectives were appeared in the most regions of the world. Developing countries continued to outperform developed economies, which led to divergences in economic parameters among different regions of the world. In particular, growing domestic demand in emerging economies offset the decline in exports stemming from subdued demand in advanced economies.
Global 2013 cement production is estimated at 4 billion tons, translating into a 9.4 % increase compared to 2012. These results reflect the improving macroeconomic conditions worldwide and recent developments in cement demands in large developing countries.
In 2013 China gained increase in cement production of 10.4 %, compared to 2012 which is followed up in India, Argentina, Saudi Arabia and South Africa. Cement production has continued to grow in 2013 compared to the previous year in South America, Africa and Asia.
| Cement production 1) [Million tonnes] | |||||||||
| Country | 2001 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 2) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| China | 661,0 | 1.236,8 | 1.361,2 | 1.388.4 | 1.664,0 | 1.881,9 | 2.063,2 | 2.137,0 | 2.359,0 |
| India | 102,9 | 159,0 | 170,5 | 185,0 | 205,0 | 220,0 | 270,0 | 239,0 | 272,0 |
| European Union | 225,8 | 264,8 | 271,0 | 251,8 | 201,3 | 191,0 | 195,5 | 159,2 | 147,2 |
| USA | 88,9 | 98,2 | 95,5 | 86,3 | 63,9 | 65,2 | 68,6 | 74,0 | 77,0 |
| Brazil | 39,4 | 41,4 | 45,9 | 51,6 | 51,7 | 59,1 | 63,0 | 68,0 | 71,9 |
| Turkey | 30,0 | 47,4 | 49,3 | 51,4 | 54,0 | 62,7 | 63,4 | 63,8 | 70,8 |
| Russian Federation | 28,7 | 54,7 | 59,9 | 53,5 | 44,3 | 50,4 | 56,1 | 53,0 | 55,6 |
| Japan | 75,9 | 69,9 | 67,8 | 63,0 | 54,9 | 51,7 | 51,5 | 59,2 | 61,7 |
| Korea, Rep. Of | 52,0 | 49,2 | 52,2 | 51,7 | 50,1 | 47,4 | 48,2 | 46,9 | 47,3 |
| Saudi Arabia | 20,0 | 27,0 | 30,3 | 37,4 | 37,8 | 42,5 | 48,0 | 43,0 | 48,0 |
| Indonesia | 31,1 | 33,0 | 35,0 | 38,5 | 36,9 | 39,5 | 45,2 | 53,5 | 47,0 |
| Mexico | 33,2 | 37,9 | 38,8 | 37,1 | 35,1 | 34,5 | 35,4 | 36,2 | 37,0 |
| Germany | 32,1 | 33,6 | 33,4 | 33,6 | 30,4 | 32,3 | 33,5 | 32,4 | 31,5 |
| Italy | 39,8 | 47,8 | 47,5 | 43,3 | 36,4 | 34,4 | 33,1 | 26,2 | 23,1 |
| France | 19,1 | 22,0 | 22,1 | 21,2 | 18,1 | 18,0 | 19,4 | 18,0 | 17,5 |
| Canada | 12,1 | 14,3 | 15,1 | 13,7 | 11,0 | 12,4 | 12,0 | 12,5 | 12,1 |
| Argentina | 5,5 | 8,9 | 9,6 | 9,7 | 9,4 | 10,4 | 11,6 | 10,7 | 11,9 |
| South Africa | 8,4 | 13,1 | 13,7 | 13,4 | 11,8 | 10,9 | 11,2 | 13,8 | 14,9 |
| Australia | 6,8 | 9,2 | 9,2 | 9,4 | 9,2 | 8,3 | 8,6 | 9,8 | 10,5 |
| United Kingdom | 11,9 | 12,1 | 12,6 | 10,5 | 7,8 | 7,9 | 8,5 | 7,9 | 8,2 |
|
1) Cement production including cement produced with imported clinker 2) Provisional figures |
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European Production
Cement production in the CEMBUREAU1 Member countries in 2013, compared to 2012, showed annual growth by 2.6 % after the considerable drop recorded by 12.9 % in 2012, reaching 232.9 million tons. Individual European markets recorded mixed performances. On some major markets such as Spain and Italy decreasing trend in cement production was continued (from 14.5 % to 28.1 % and from 12 % to 20.9% respectively). A more moderate year-on-year drop was recorded in Germany (from 2.3 % to 3.4 %) in 2012 and France (from 3 % to 7.4 %). Cement production continued to fall in a number of Eastern European countries, such as the Czech Republic and Slovenia. In Poland cement production has declined from 7.5 % (which was recorded in 2012 compared to the previous) to 16 % in 2013. In the EU28 as a whole, cement production fell by 1.2 % year-on-year, which is much lower than the drop of 18.6 % recorded in 2012.
Source: http://www.cembureau.eu/sites/default/files/category_pictures/AR2013.pdf
Serbian Production
Starting from the 2008, when the production of cement in Serbia reached a record level of 2.8 million tons, from year to year, production and consumption of cement in Serbia registers a permanent decline. In 2013 was recorded a decrease of cement production by 13.05 % compared to 2012, reaching 1.59 million tons, while the consumption of cement in the same year recorded a drop by 35.2 % compared to 2012.
Since the construction sector in the previous period was strongly affected by the crisis, cement manufacturers in Serbia certainly felt a consequence of that too.
Source: Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia http://webrzs.stat.gov.rs/WebSite/Public/PublicationView.aspx?pKey=41&pubType=1
1 Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, Croatia (associate Member), Serbia (associate Member)