New data from the Mineral Products Association (MPA) shows the UK made 7.3m tonnes of cement in 2024 – around half of what it produced in 1990.

It follows recent MPA data showing ready-mix concrete sales hit historic lows in the second quarter of 2025, with other materials also down on the previous year.

The MPA warned the drop in cement production puts Labour’s housebuilding and infrastructure plans at risk.

Cement imports to the UK have nearly tripled over the past 20 years, rising from 12% of all sales in 2008 to 32% in 2024 leaving construction supply chains increasingly exposed to the risks of volatile international markets.

The UK’s cement manufacturers are battling some of the highest industrial electricity prices among developed nations and uneven carbon taxation as importers – especially those outside of the EU – don’t pay the same costs for their emissions.

The UK’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism is intended to address this from 2027, but the MPA said it needs to be supported with a procurement policy that prioritises domestically produced materials.

Dr Diana Casey, executive director for cement and lime at the Mineral Products Association, said: “Cement is an essential industry, but the sector is increasingly under threat. We’re calling on the government to help put domestic production on a level playing field so that it can compete fairly with imports.

“Cement quite literally underpins the nation’s growth and we can’t deliver new homes, schools, hospitals, transport links or clean energy infrastructure without it.

“The UK has a choice: to build these vital development projects with UK-made cement, or to build them with imports – sending jobs, investment and economic growth overseas.”