An economic conflict is brewing between Russia and Belarus, centered around cement. Due to an oversupply of construction materials and declining sales, Russia’s largest cement producer, Cemros — which includes 16 cement plants and more than 30 quarries across 13 regions — will switch to a four-day workweek starting October 1.
The holding, owned by the pro-Kremlin oligarch Oleg Deripaska, proposes limiting imports and introducing five-year anti-dumping tariffs to protect local manufacturers.
The main culprit behind the market oversaturation is Belarusian cement, which, along with supplies from Kazakhstan, Iran, China, and Vietnam, is already pushing Russian products out of the domestic market. Over the last five years, imports have nearly tripled, while domestic consumption has increased by less than 16%. As a result, foreign cement volumes now equal the annual output of several Russian plants, forcing them to reduce production.
Russian cement producers want to cap imports at 1.5 million tons per year, which would provide at least an additional 2 million tons of workload for local capacities. Otherwise, the market in 2025 could shrink by 10–15% compared to 2024, when demand was about 67 million tons.
