According to Bill Gates' blog, between 2011 and 2013, China consumed more concrete than the United States did in the entire 20th century. The Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest hydroelectric power station, located on the Yanzi Jiang river in central China, alone required 16 million tons of cement. Fast forward to today, and China is still by far the world’s largest producer of cement.
In 2023, Chinese cement factories produced 2.1 billion tonnes of cement, while the rest of the world produced 2 billion tonnes, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. India, the world's second largest producer, churned out 410 million tonnes, far ahead of Vietnam and the United States, whose output amounted to 110 and 90 million tonnes respectively.
