Global demand for cement/concrete additives to exceed $21bn

The Global demand for cement and concrete additives is projected to increase 9.3% annually to $21.2 billion (€15.4 billion) in 2017. According to analyst Mike Richardson: “Although growth in world cement consumption will decelerate from that of the 2007-2012 period, a number of factors will contribute to robust value growth for additives.” Additive loadings are increasing in all but the most developed markets, and even in those, fibre additive usage is becoming more prevalent. A shift to higher-perfor

The Global demand for cement and concrete additives is projected to increase 9.3% annually to $21.2 billion (€15.4 billion) in 2017.

According to analyst Mike Richardson: “Although growth in world cement consumption will decelerate from that of the 2007-2012 period, a number of factors will contribute to robust value growth for additives.”

Additive loadings are increasing in all but the most developed markets, and even in those, fibre additive usage is becoming more prevalent. A shift to higher-performance water reducers and other chemical additives will drive value gains, particularly in developing markets, and while growth in overall cement consumption will decelerate, much of this slowdown will occur in large cement markets that are low-intensity additive users.

These and other trends are presented in World Cement & Concrete Additives, a new study from The Freedonia Group, a Cleveland, USA-based industry market research company.

The report points out that growth in cement use in the US, Italy, Spain, and several other developed markets will rebound as construction markets recover from recent disastrous periods, which will fuel above average gains for additives. In contrast, the construction markets of many developing countries were not affected (or much less so) by the recent economic downturn. In these areas, gains will be prompted by increased additive usage, and a move to higher-value additives to produce concrete that meets increasingly stringent performance expectations.

In China, which accounted for nearly three-fifths of the world’s cement demand and more than one-quarter of additive demand in 2012, increased use of high-performance super-plasticisers will sustain growth for additives, even as growth in construction activity and cement demand decelerates.

Chemical additives will post strong growth through 2017 as many significant markets for chemical additives rebound.

In developing markets, use of higher loadings and higher-value products will boost demand, and demand for minerals will post healthy gains, although below the overall pace due to the increased use of fly ash, slag, and other materials as components of blended cement, rather than as concrete additives.

The report says that on a world level, the shift to greater use of blended cement is mostly attributable to China, where blended cement dominates and the sheer size of its cement market results in a gravitational pull on the markets for cement and for concrete additives.  While much smaller, the fibres segment will post the fastest growth, due to overall increases in the use of fibres in concrete.

WORLD CEMENT & CONCRETE ADDITIVE DEMAND (million dollars)

© 2014 by The Freedonia Group, Inc.

World Cement & Concrete Additives (397 pages) is available for $6,100 from The Freedonia Group. Contact Corinne Gangloff on Tel: +1 440 684 9600; Email: