OREANDA-NEWS  By the end of April, cement consumption in Russia fell by 9.6 percent year-on-year, to 4.7 million tons, which is noticeably better than in the first quarter, when the drop was 23 percent. This is reported by Kommersant with reference to data from Soyuzcement and Tsemros.

In January, cement demand fell by a maximum of 32.1 percent. However, they remind in "Cemros", the crisis trends in the market last year began to form in April, that is, there is a low base effect in the current improvement. It may also affect the May results.

In general, the period from April to October is indicative of consumption for the market, when average daily temperatures in most regions of the country favor construction.

Soyuzcement estimates that cement consumption in Russia will fall to 44.8-47.7 million tons for the whole year, which is 21.2-25.9 percent worse than in 2025. The main reason for this trend was a noticeable decrease in construction volumes, and there are no reasons for its reversal in the medium term.

The issuance of permits for the construction of apartment buildings in January-April fell by 19 percent, although by 2025 the figure was already falling by 22 percent. Developers have begun to abandon the implementation of projects, which affects the commissioning of housing. In the first four months, 29.4 million square meters were commissioned, which is 24 less than last year.

Experts expect cement production to fall to its lowest level in 27 years in 2026, and the decline will continue in 2027-2028. However, if necessary, output can be increased quickly, because even before the crisis, the workload of enterprises did not exceed 61.9 percent.

It is impossible to improve the production situation through exports, because Russian manufacturers do not have competitive advantages, and the strengthening of the ruble makes their products even more expensive.