According to the incomplete statistics of China Cement Network, since this year, more than 20 cement enterprises (enterprises with production capacity and production lines) have gone bankrupt, filed for bankruptcy or ushered in major procedural nodes. According to the Cement Big Data Research Institute, the total profit loss of the whole industry in the first half of the year was about 4 billion yuan, with a loss of about 60%. In this round of clearing, the grinding station has become the most vulnerable link.
Why the grinding station?
The answer is not complicated: there is no clinker in the hands of independent grinding stations. Raw materials are bought, products are sold, and both ends are in the hands of others. When the price of clinker rises, the cost goes up; when the price of clinker falls, the matching grinding stations of large groups follow the price reduction to grab the share, and the independent stations can not even talk about the cost advantage. Looking at the downstream-according to the data of the National Bureau of Statistics, the national cement output dropped from the peak of 2.377 billion tons in 2021 to 1.693 billion tons in 2025, with a contraction of nearly 700 million tons in four years. From January to September this year, the national cement output was 1.131 billion tons, with a year-on-year decrease of 8.6%. The
chain of cause and effect is clear at a glance: the demand is down, the price is at the bottom, the integrated enterprise of the group relies on its own clinker to reduce the price and guarantee the quantity, the independent station falls into "price inversion, high inventory, poor repayment", cash flow is exhausted, and eventually collapses. Combing the enterprises that have fallen this year, almost every one has fallen at the same pass-unable to pay off the debts due.
Hard to carry, can wait until spring?
It is undeniable that the grinding link itself is not a backward production capacity-the mill has low energy consumption, is close to the consumer market, and is relatively flexible in changing production. But the problem is not in the individual stations, but in the total plate at the grinding end. What really needs "price reduction" is the total grinding capacity of the whole industry: only when the grinding capacity shrinks to a level that matches the demand for cement, can retained capacity be profitable. In other words, it is not the cycle that crushes the independent grinding station, but the structure. Wait for the demand to pick up, wait for the price to rebound, wait for the spring of the grinding station! On the
policy side, there is not much room for "hard carrying". The Work Program for Steady Growth of Building Materials Industry (2025-2026) issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other six departments clearly strictly controls new cement production capacity and strictly prohibits new independent grinding station production capacity; The new version of the ambient air quality standard (GB 3095-2026) was implemented on March 1 this year, and the control of dust and unorganized emissions has been tightened in an all-round way. The transformation of ultra-low emissions in key areas requires that more than 80% be completed by 2028. The transformation to invest in real gold and silver, for the small station which is already struggling in the profit and loss line, it is also an account that can not be passed.
How to transition?
Clearing is not equal to waiting for death, there are still several ways, the key is to choose as early as possible, do not endure:
1, cash flow priority. Set production by sales, strictly control inventory, tighten credit sales and guarantee repayment. There are few exceptions to this round of collapsed enterprises: it is not that the equipment is not good, but that there is no cash on the account. No matter how bad the market is, you can't do the business of advancing capital for volume.
2. Exit with dignity. Market competition does not believe in tears, and nostalgia will not change the direction of clearing. For enterprises with obvious lack of competitiveness, voluntary exit is a stop-loss, and it is also the most decent kind of stop-loss-it is better than delaying to insolvency and leaving the outcome to the court to write.
3. Hold together or merge. Joint procurement of clinker by regional small stations and collaborative sales can improve the bargaining power; but the more realistic path is to be merged by the group, enter the integrated system, and let the own clinker cover the raw material risk for you.
4. Transformation and subdivision. The grinding line does not necessarily have to grind only cement. To dispose of industrial solid wastes such as steel slag, slag and fly ash, we can turn to such differentiated products as solidified soil and low-carbon cementitious materials, the former docking earthwork backfilling and roadbed construction, the latter replacing part of clinker consumption, all of which avoid the low-cost internal roll of general cement, and also catch the policy dividend of solid waste recycling. This road is not accessible to every family, but it is worth trying for sites with location, site and environmental protection margin.
Liquidation is not the end of the industry, but the market-oriented channel to reshape the pattern: bankruptcy reorganization, merger and acquisition integration are replacing the disorderly price war and becoming the formal path to eliminate inefficient production capacity. For independent grinding stations, the most expensive thing at the moment is cash flow, and the most feared thing is luck. If you can settle your accounts, choose your way as early as possible. If you can't settle your accounts, the market will do it for you.
For the grinding station struggling in the process of clearing, it is not the way to endure, but the space to turn around-whether it is to take the initiative to exit decently, or to reduce costs through energy-saving transformation, we need to find the right path and resources. From December 3 to 4, China Cement Network will hold the 16th China Cement Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Technology Exchange Conference and the 1st Solid Waste Comprehensive Utilization and Fluidized Solidified Soil Development Conference in Wuhan. At the same time, the " 2026 Cement Kiln Co-disposal of Hazardous Waste Capacity Ranking List " was released. If you want a way out, go and have a look.
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