Cement sales in Brazil rose 7,7% in June compared with the same month of 2025, reaching 5,8 million tonnes, according to the National Cement Industry Union (Sindicato Nacional da Indústria do Cimento, SNIC), which described the result as the best June in the history of the series. Adjusted for business days, June dispatches climbed 3% year-on-year to 253,6 thousand tonnes. For the first half of 2026 as a whole, sales advanced 2,3% versus the same period last year, to roughly 32,8 million tonnes.
Every region of the country recorded growth in June. The Northeast led with a 13,8% increase, followed by the North at 10,1%, the South at 9,7%, the Center-West at 6,5% and the Southeast, the country's largest market, at 4,2%.
SNIC president Paulo Camillo, who also heads the Brazilian Portland Cement Association (ABCP), told Reuters that sector performance was underpinned by the wage bill standing at historic levels, strong employment volumes and the strong performance of the Minha Casa Minha Vida federal housing programme. Camillo said the programme, initially projected to deliver 2 million housing units between 2023 and 2026, is now expected to reach 3 million units, adding that a higher unit count by year-end could generate an extra 5 million tonnes of cement sales and that he expects positive performance for the segment in July and August as well. SNIC board chairman José Eduardo Ramos added that the acceleration of rigid-pavement road projects and concrete roadways also played a decisive role in the growth.
For the full year, SNIC expects sales growth of between 1,5% and 2%, below the near 4% growth recorded in each of the past two years. Camillo pointed to rising oil prices linked to war and higher ocean freight costs as factors pushing up cement prices. He also flagged the debate over ending the so-called 6x1 work shift as a risk factor, estimating that between third-party and direct labour costs, the change could raise industry costs by 15%, which he called an important and extremely negative impact for the sector.