FOB prices for Portland cement decreased in March 2021 both in the Persian Gulf-Arabian Sea and in the Mediterranean Basin, down by almost 1 percent month-on-month, while East African CFR prices for bagged cement slightly increased, according to CW Research's Cement and Clinker Price Assessment for Med Basin and Persian Gulf-Arabian Sea & East Africa.

Ex-works gray cement prices are expected to range from an increase of over 9 percent in Western Europe to a decrease of 6 percent in Sub-Saharan Africa in the first quarter of 2021, on a yearly basis, according to the 1Q2021 update of CW Research’s Global Cement Trade Price Report.

Algeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania are expected to add about 18 million tons of cement production capacity in the next five years, even amidst an excess capacity scenario

In February 2021, Persian Gulf-Arabian Sea FOB prices for Portland cement increased over 1 percent month-on-month, while clinker export prices rose almost 2 percent, according to the CW Research's Cement and Clinker Price Assessment for Med Basin and Persian Gulf-Arabian Sea & East Africa.

CW export price index for gray cement is expected to continue to strengthen in the first quarter of 2021, increasing by over 5 percent year-on-year and almost 1 percent compared to the previous quarter, according to the 1Q2021 update of CW Research’s Global Cement Trade Price Report.

Robust growth on Iraq’s construction sector, positively influenced by the country’s reconstruction and rehabilitation program, with a total investment exceeding USD 94 billion over the coming decade, is expected to continue to drive cement demand in the country, according to the 2021 update of the Iraq Cement Market & Forecast Report.

Average export prices for cement and clinker continued their upward trajectory in the Mediterranean Basin while declining in the Persian Gulf-Arabian Sea and East Africa in January 2021, according to CW Research's Cement and Clinker Price Assessment for Med Basin and Persian Gulf-Arabian Sea & East Africa.