Construction Materials

Construction Material

Overview

Bangladesh has experienced rapid urban development for decades. The capital city Dhaka has emerged as one of the fastest growing mega-cities and needs to accommodate almost 600,000 people annually which is equivalent to 120,000 household units every year. At the same time a number of mega-infrastructure projects are being implemented continually and Bangladesh is expected to spend about 8-10 billion a year to bring its power grids, roads and water supplies to serve its growing population. Infrastructure development (including large-scale megaprojects) and urbanization has driven growth of both construction and real estate sectors in Bangladesh, which has been maintaining high and steady annual growth rate (8% and 4% respectively) of sectoral GDP during the last five years generating a huge volume of demand for construction materials such as steel and cement products.

Steel Industry

Bangladesh is one of Asia’s emerging steel markets and holds a growing demand for quality materials and steel-fabrication technologies. The current annual consumption of steel is estimated to be around 4 million tons which is 5 times of 2008 levels. The industry consists of a number of steel re-rolling mills fabricating “long products” and limited types of “flat products” using imported hot rolled coils. The steel industry has been in a structural shift where large scale re-rollers are integrating the process of electric arc furnace owing to import tariff cut on scraps metals. The industry still needs to import hot-coils (semi-finished product) for fabricating flat products, since the process of hot-rolling is not established in Bangladesh. Further, particular long-products such as large shape, sheet pile for construction largely rely on import.

Cement Industry

The demand for cement has grown at 12% per annum over the last five years and the sector’s market size has reached 34.12 million tons in 2019. This growth is forecasted to persist with increased urbanization and progress of megaprojects; the overall public infrastructure projects account for 35% of the country’s total cement consumption, while the remaining is consumed by the private sector. Among the existing 100 cement factories, 35 are in operation today out of which the top 10 companies currently holds 80% market share due to consolidation over the years. The cement industry is heavily dependent on import of its main material, “clinker”, on which the government maintains low import duty to decrease import of cement product. In Bangladesh, Portland composite cement, requiring less clinker compared to Ordinary Portland cement, is dominant, whereas cements characterized by water-tightness and long-term strength are yet to penetrate the market

Dhaka needs to accommodate 600,000 people annually, equivalent to 120,000 household units annually

Mega infrastructure projects being implemented continually in response to robust economic growth.

Both markets of steel and cement products are unmet by local production.

Public sector consumes 45% of the total cement production.

Bangladesh has experienced rapid urban development for decades and the capital city Dhaka has emerged as one of the world’s fastest growing mega-cities. Large scale infrastructure development and urbanization has driven growth & demand for construction material such as steel and cement products.

Advantages of Bangladesh

Growth drivers

Infrastructure development (including large-scale megaprojects) and rapid urbanization of major cities has been driving growth of both construction (steel and cement) and real-estate sectors in Bangladesh.
Low Per capita cement consumption, compared to Asian peer countries, implies tremendous potential for growth in the cement industry in the long-term.

Potential Segment

Production of specific materials

Construction of high-rise/ commercial buildings and large-scale infrastructure projects would inevitably demand some specific materials, for which foreign investors are expected to contribute to localized production through establishment of production facility, and partnership with local industries via joint-venture, merger & acquisition, etc.

Steel: Long products such as large shapes including H-beam, angle, channel, and sheet piles Hot-coils through hot-roller milling for fabricating various flat products

Cement: Products with long-term strength and water-tightness (more suitable for long-lasting and large civil structures) such as blast furnace slab cements, and tailored-products with automated control of raw material mixture for catering to special requirements

Energy-efficient production

The existing plant facilities in the steel and cement industries are generally energy consuming and indicates high needs for improving energy efficiency. Foreign manufactures are expected to contribute to making local production more energy-efficient by introducing modern plant facilities and energy-saving technology (for instance, clinker-grinding in case of cement product), through partnership with local industries via joint-venture, merger & acquisition, etc.

Incentives and Policy

Incentives related to the Steel and Cement Industry

4% cash incentive on export of MS steel products and cement sheet.
Only 2% tax to be deducted at source on the supply of cement.
No specific restrictions exist upon the entry of foreign investors.
No other sector-specific regime is available (as of October 2021). For general incentives please refer to the General Incentives page (Create hyperlink to the General Incentive page).