CBMF China Building Materials Federation September 5, 2025 17:13 Beijing
In July, the seasonal demand in the building materials market weakened, the production of building materials products slowed down, and the ex-factory prices fell on a month-on-month basis. However, the output and prices of major products in some industries, such as thermal insulation materials, mineral fibers and composite materials, continued to grow, and the main economic efficiency indicators and export amounts of the entire industry continued to narrow the decline.
1. Building materials production is stable but slowing. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the added value of the non-metallic mineral products industry decreased by 0.6% year-on-year in July, marking the third consecutive month of decline. Of the 31 key monitored building materials, output of nine products increased year-on-year, with the number of products experiencing growth decreasing by two compared to the previous month. Among these, glass fiber yarn and glass fiber reinforced plastic products saw a 10% year-on-year increase; growth rates for glass fiber yarn, glass fiber cloth, glass fiber reinforced plastic products, kaolin, gypsum board, and fluorite rebounded compared to the previous month. Cement and flat glass saw year-on-year declines of 5.6% and 3.4%, respectively.
From January to July, the added value of non-metallic mineral products industry decreased by 0.5% year-on-year, and the decline continued to narrow. Among the 31 key monitored building materials products, the output of 10 products increased year-on-year. Among them, the year-on-year growth of glass fiber reinforced plastic products exceeded 20%; Laminated glass, glass fiber yarn, glass fiber cloth, and kaolin products increased by over 5% year-on-year; Cement and flat glass decreased by 4.5% and 5.0% respectively year-on-year. Compared with the period from January to June, the soil yield in Gaoling has shifted from a decrease to an increase; The production growth of two products, glass fiber yarn and glass fiber reinforced plastic products, has expanded, with a decrease of five compared to last month; The production decline of 11 products, including cement drainage pipes, cement poles, flat glass, tempered glass, insulated glass, porcelain tiles, tiles, marble slabs, asphalt and modified asphalt waterproofing membranes, gypsum boards, and fluorite, has narrowed, with an increase of 4 compared to the previous month.
The ex factory price of the product has fallen month on month. The ex factory price index of building materials industry products in July was 87.1 points (December 2020=100), a decrease of 1.3% month on month and 5.3% year-on-year, lower than the same month last year. Among them, the ex factory price index of industries such as waterproof building materials, lightweight building materials, thermal insulation materials, mineral fibers and composite materials, and non-metallic mineral mining and selection has increased month on month; The ex factory prices of cement, cement products, wall materials, lime gypsum, clay and sand mining, construction stone, and building sanitary ceramics industries have decreased month on month.
From January to July, the ex factory prices of building materials products decreased by 3.7% year-on-year, an increase of 0.2 percentage points from January to June. The factory prices of industries such as flat glass, waterproof materials, lightweight building materials, non-metallic mineral products, and cement products have decreased significantly; The ex factory prices of cement, clay and gravel mining, construction stone processing, mineral fiber and composite materials industries are higher than the same period last year.
The decline in industry economic benefits has narrowed. From January to July, the operating revenue of the building materials industry above designated size decreased by 7.8% year-on-year, and the total profit decreased by 12.1% year-on-year, with a decrease of 0.1 and 0.3 percentage points respectively compared to the previous month. In the main industries of building materials, the operating income of thermal insulation materials, new wall materials, clay and sand mining, mineral fiber and composite materials and other industries maintained year-on-year growth, with the operating income of mineral fiber and composite materials industry exceeding 10.0%; The total profits of six industries, including cement, wall materials, bricks and building blocks, mining of building stones, mineral fibers and composite materials, and non-metallic mineral products, maintained year-on-year growth; The four sub industries of concrete structural components, fiber cement products, flat glass, and non-metallic mineral products are experiencing losses.
fixed assets investment slowed down. According to the data of the National Bureau of Statistics, from January to July, fixed assets investment in the non-metallic mining and dressing industry decreased by 12% year on year, and fixed assets investment in the non-metallic mineral products industry decreased by 4.8% year on year, down 39.7 and 9.7 percentage points respectively from the same period last year. Among them, private fixed assets investment in non-metallic mining and beneficiation industry increased by 9.9% year on year, 6.7 percentage points lower than the same period last year, and private fixed assets investment in non-metallic mineral products industry decreased by 6.3% year on year, 13.2 percentage points lower than the same period last year.
The export value of building materials increased year-on-year, while the import value decreased. In July, the export value of building materials was 2.94 billion US dollars, a decrease from the previous month and an increase of 9.7% compared to the same month last year. Among them, exports to the United States and South Korea decreased year-on-year, while exports to Vietnam, India, Thailand, and other countries increased. From January to July, the export value of building materials and non-metallic mineral commodities was 19.89 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 7.2%, narrowing the decline by 1.4 percentage points. Excluding price factors, the actual growth of building materials exports was 6.3%. The export volume of building materials such as cement clinker, raw glass for display screen substrates, other ultra-thin glass, glass profiles, quartz glass for fiber optic production, glass fiber raw material balls, glass fiber fabrics, carbon fibers, basalt fibers and products, porcelain ceramic tiles, decorative ceramic tiles, limestone, limestone slabs, asbestos, crystalline graphite, etc. has grown rapidly.
In July, the import amount of building materials was 1.42 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 24.9%, and the decline narrowed by 7.2 percentage points compared to the previous month. From January to July, the import amount of building materials and non-metallic mineral commodities was 9.16 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 31.9%, a decrease of 0.1 percentage points from the previous month. Among them, the import quantity of building materials such as cement clinker, precast concrete components, tempered glass for aerospace, fiberglass mechanical bonding felt, bricks, ceramic tiles, quicklime, granite slabs, other waterproof building materials, fluorite, and barite has grown rapidly.
