A report emerged this week indicating that exports of cement from China to North Korea have risen markedly in the last few months. We will use this as an opportunity to examine the state of the local cement sector in the so-called ‘Hermit Kingdom.’
Daily NK has reported cement shipments “moving through border crossings along the Yalu River have risen noticeably since early April 2026.” This is the main border crossing between China and North Korea. It includes the Sino - Korean Friendship Bridge, with road and railway lines, which links Dandong with Sinuiju. In 2023 an estimated 98% of official trade imports to North Korea came from China. The increase in imports has been linked to North Korea’s ‘20×10 Regional Development Policy,’ which has proposed building 20 infrastructure and residential projects in 20 counties for 10 years from 2024. It is also proving cheaper to use imports in border regions rather than shipping cement from the country’s own plants. Finally, the source Daily NK used has suggested that local builders prefer using Chinese cement in some cases, despite it being moreexpensive, due to its higher strength and workability.
Some of the news sources that Global Cement uses to cover North Korea are state-owned media such as the state-run Korean Central News Agency. Daily NK by contrast is based in South Korea. The use of state news sources generally means that some of the coverage is overwhelmingly positive. So it was distinctive in March 2026 when state media announced that ‘supreme leader’ Kim Jong-un had called for ‘all-out’ efforts to boost cement production during a visit to the Sangwon cement plant. This implied that the country wasn’t making enough cement! Luckily for the plant workers, Kim was described as having a 'relaxed demeanour and expression' on this tour. Perhaps the cigarette he smoked in the plant’s central control room helped his mood.
Other than this, the general trend in the sector in North Korea since 2021 has been that of capacity enlargement projects at the large Sangwon and Sunchon plants. Daily NK reported in late 2021 that there had been an explosion at the Komusan cement plant that killed two workers. It attributed the incident to the plant being forced to work at maximum output with minimal maintenance. This was allegedly done in order to reach national economic targets in time for former leader Kim Jong Il’s birthday in mid-December. Another explosion was reported at the Mount Purae plant in late 2024. This one was thankfully non-fatal but it was blamed on the factory management pushing output in response to pressure from local government officials.
Graph 1: Cement production in North Korea, 2015 - 2023. Source: Bank of Korea.
Bank of Korea estimates on cement production in North Korea placed the level at 6.7Mt in 2023. Output appears to have been rising again since a dip in 2019. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) concluded in 2024 that United Nations sanctions on the country’s fuel imports in 2017 had restricted heavy fuel oil imports and that this had negatively affected the cement industry. The closure of the border in early 2020 further reduced fuel imports.
One of the best pieces of research available in English on the cement sector in North Korea is a report by 38 North in 2021. An abridged version was also published in the July - August 2021 issue of Global Cement Magazine. The magazine from the Stimson Center, a US-based thinktank, used satellite images to check on the state of the industry. It identified 21 cement plants at this time that may have been active. It also assessed whether various upgrade projects had been realised or not. It concluded that it was impossible to tell by imagery whether many of the proposed production upgrade projects had been realised over the preceding decade. Since 2021, as mentioned above, there has been a steady stream of reported production increases at cement plants reported by state media.
In summary, the North Korean government has large infrastructure plans, it has been attempting to increase production at key plants but it appears to be importing cement from China to compensate. The country remains under a complex group of UN economic sanctions. Those on fuel and equipment imports pose particular challenges to the local cement sector. This may be reflected in the reports of explosions at plants in the last few years. Recent economic deals with Russia and the 20×10 plan suggest that there is scope for development of the local cement market, despite the continued hardships the general population reportedly face.
