A forward looking perspective on the cement and concrete industry: Implications of growth and development in the Global South

Abstract

The cement and concrete industry serves as the foundation for modern infrastructure. Hence, it has a massive global impact on both energy demand and carbon emissions and so is a key focus of industrial decarbonization efforts. The relationship between cement and concrete production and societal development is made more apparent as a result of the limited degree of international trading of these products. Thus, developed and developing countries are expected to observe opposite trends in future market demand. While demand in Europe, for instance, is expected to contract after being stable for many years, demand in emerging and developing countries will continue to rise to meet the needs of growing, increasingly urban populations. Understanding how cement and concrete decarbonization goals can best be met in different geographies should be further explored, as only a few cross-cutting solutions may be applicable. Further, solutions appropriate for current dominant cement and concrete markets may not be most appropriate in markets with the greatest future demand growth. Hence, we discuss the potential implications of the growing needs of emerging markets undergoing rapid development as the global cement and concrete industry comes to terms with its need to address climate impacts. Among the ten countries expected to drive urban population growth until 2050, six have not been historically significant global cement producers. However, an additional 45.86 Gt of cement and concrete CO2 emissions may be generated by 2050 unless attention is given to these emerging cement and concrete demand centers.