“We stopped supplying cement to Ukraine in July this year and have switched to other markets. The European Union primarily. We will continue to compensate for the lost market, increasing our cement. Not to Russia, however, but to the European Union,” Dmitry Mikulenok said before a meeting of the Presidium of the Council of Ministers.
The price margin of the European market is much more attractive to Belarus. The minister also made clear diversifying exports will mitigate the blow to the economy in the course of events similar to the introduction of tariffs in Ukraine.
Ukraine changed its customs policy in May in an attempt to stimulate the production of cement and clinker in the country.
There are four EU countries among the importers of Belarusian cement — Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Germany. Poland is the largest EU importer. The country imported 10.1 million USD worth of cement from Belarus over the past year. About half of the exported cement from Belarus goes to Russia.
Over the past ten years, Belarusian cement export worth amounted to:
- Russia — over $600 million,
- Ukraine — $38 million,
- the EU market (Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Germany) — about $114 million.
Since July 2019, Belarusian enterprises have increased their production to 93% of design capacity. According to authorities, new types of products are underway, and to be introduced in Q1, 2020. There is a total of three cement plants in Belarus — Krichevcementnoshifer, Krasnoselskstroymaterialy, and Belarusian Cement Plant. All three are part of the Belarusian Cement Company state holding.
At the end of October this year, President of Górażdże Cement Holding — the largest player in the Polish cement market — Andrzej Reklik, said that cheap imports from the east harm Polish industry.
