“Between January and November 2025, cement shipments, including clinker, have jumped 13% y/y, driven by a 39% y/y increase in shipments to Africa’s Atlantic coast. The region is experiencing high economic growth, fast urbanisation and rapid development in infrastructure, supporting construction activity and boosting the demand for cement,” says Filipe Gouveia, Shipping Analysis Manager at BIMCO.
Cement and clinker import dependency is high across most countries in the region as most countries have insufficient domestic production capacity. Production capacity is particularly low for clinker, an intermediate product used when manufacturing cement. Consequently, even where grinding plants are present, manufacturers must still import clinker, boosting bulk shipments.
Cement and clinker cargoes transported by bulk ships are almost exclusively transported by ships in the supramax and handysize segments. So far this year, 60% of cargoes have been transported by supramax ships and 38% have been transported by handysize shipments. In total, these shipments have accounted for 6% of supramax tonne mile demand and 5% of handysize tonne mile demand.
“Average sailing distances for cement and clinker shipments have increased so far this year, supported by stronger shipments from Asia to Africa’s Atlantic coast. Consequently, tonne mile demand for cement and clinker shipments has grown 23% y/y, benefiting the supramax and handysize segments. Overall, cement and clinker shipments have accounted for 2% of dry bulk tonne mile demand this year,” says Gouveia.
Outside African markets, cement shipments have expanded to some markets in East and Southeast Asia, and on the west coast of Central and South America, while clinker shipments have remained stable. Price competition has increased in these markets as several Asian countries are experiencing overcapacity in their cement industries, or weak domestic demand, leading to a rise in low-price exports. Chinese seaborne exports have more than doubled, rising by 135% y/y, as producers face declining construction activity at home due to the country’s property sector crisis. In addition, Vietnamese seaborne exports have risen 16% y/y, maintaining its place as the world’s largest exporter accounting for 27% of shipments.
Shipments to the US, the world’s largest importer, have risen by a modest 3% y/y despite the country’s increase in tariffs. The tariffs appear to have been insufficient to significantly boost US domestic production since clinker production fell 7% y/y between January and July 2025. Meanwhile, shipments to the US from the top two exporters, Vietnam and Turkey, have grown 27% y/y and 14% y/y so far this year, despite tariff increases of 20 and 15 percentage points respectively.
“The outlook appears largely positive as rising African demand and high price competition amongst exporters could support cement and clinker shipments. However, US building permits fell 5% y/y between January and August, indicating that US demand could slow in the short term,” says Gouveia.
