There is an increase in domestic sales in the cement sector in all regions.

TÜRKÇİMENTO, the umbrella association of the cement industry, announced the production and sales figures of its members for the first 5 months of 2021. While cement production of TÜRKÇİMENTO members, representing 94% of the industry, increased by 32.3% to 29 million 696 thousand tons in the 5-month period of 2021 compared to the previous year, domestic sales reached 22 million 403 thousand tons with an increase of 37.1%. As in previous months, domestic sales increased in all regions. Approximately 22.9% of the cement produced in the first five months of the year was exported.

In the statement made by TÜRKÇİMENTO, stating that domestic sales throughout the country continue to increase in all regions, “Turkey's cement consumption decreased by 11% in 2018 and by 29% in 2019, for the first time in its history for the first time in two years. At the end of 2020, nearly 40 million tons of excess capacity emerged. Cement is generally produced for domestic consumption, but the contraction in domestic consumption in the past period has led our companies to export. However, export is not an option preferred by our industry, as its sustainability is risky. The increase in domestic sales and production in recent months signals a return to the good old days of the industry. The results of the Construction Materials Industry Index announced by IMSAD show that there is an increase in both activities and expectations in the construction sector. We think that this situation will have a positive impact on the construction sector and therefore on the domestic market consumption of our sector in the coming period.

JANUARY-JULY EXPORTS

According to the provisional data of the Exporters' Associations, the total exports of the cement industry in the January-July 2021 period increased by 10.9% on value basis and reached 723 million dollars. However, the total export amount decreased by 4.3% compared to the same period of the previous year and decreased to 18 million tons. 10.7 million tons of the said export consisted of cement and 7.3 million tons of clinker.