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 the Sub-Saharan Africa in the first quarter of 2021, on a yearly basis, according to the 1Q2021 update of CW Research'sGlobal Cement Trade Price Report.

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.

In spite of the challenges the global economy has been facing over the past five years, heightened by Covid-19, the global white cement market managed to come out relatively unscathed, with demand slightly increasing between 2016 and 2021, according to the 2021 update of CW Research's Global White Cement Market and Trade Report.