Fernando de Querol Cumbrera
Research expert covering construction, loans, leasing, savings, and debt
The construction materials industry worldwide - statistics & facts
Most building materials must be processed to be used for construction. Steel is mainly produced from iron ore, coal, and other materials such as limestone or steel scrap. Afterwards, crude steel still has to be transformed into a final product that can be used for construction, for example, structural steel. Manufacturing cement is similarly complex, and even wood needs to be processed into lumber. These are the materials that, along with iron, formed the structure of most new homes in Japan, as well as in most other countries, although in differing distributions.
Despite the challenges that the industry faces, and particular building materials such as steel and concrete, they are essential for the construction industry and will continue being widely used.
What is their carbon footprint?
The CO2 emissions of the iron and steel sector worldwide amounted to 1.41 metric tons per metric ton of steel in 2022. In order to reach net-zero, the CO2 intensity needs to decrease significantly over the next several years. Building material companies such as Holcim released many pollutants, not just CO2, but also dust, which harms human health, as well as nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide. Recently, there has been some focus on how to reduce the emissions of manufacturing cement, steel, and other materials. Nevertheless, the global CO2 emissions of cement amounted to 4.3 percent of all emissions in 2022, while the carbon footprint of steel, as stated above, was similarly high.Building material price hikes slowing down
Since 2021, the cost of building materials has been increasing in countries all over the world. The producer price of construction materials in the United States reached a growth rate of nearly 27 percent in 2021, and 12.6 percent in 2022. However, that average price decreased slightly in 2023. Still, that varied a lot across regions and types of materials. For example, the cost of most construction materials in Spain kept increasing in 2023, with the exception of iron, copper, and plastic products, and the price of cement rose by nearly 21 percent that year. Meanwhile, the price of construction materials in Japan have been rising at a fast pace since March 2024.Despite the challenges that the industry faces, and particular building materials such as steel and concrete, they are essential for the construction industry and will continue being widely used.
