I. Why This Sector Deserves Attention

The scale of Sichuan's non-metallic mineral products industry — spanning cement, flat glass, architectural ceramics, refractory materials and gypsum products — is routinely underestimated by observers outside the province.

According to the Third Bulletin of Sichuan's Fifth National Economic Census (reference date: end of 2023), non-metallic mineral products enterprises ranked among the top three industrial categories by number of corporate legal entities, accounting for 11.8% of the provincial total. Employment in the sector also ranked in the top three, representing 10.0% of all industrial workers in Sichuan. In practical terms, one in every ten industrial employees in the province works in a cement plant, ceramics factory, glass works, or refractory plant — a ratio that reflects both Sichuan's abundant non-metallic mineral reserves and its long-established building materials industry.

II. Three Geographic Clusters

Jiajiang: Western China's Largest Architectural Ceramics Hub

Jiajiang County in Leshan City has long carried the title of "Ceramics Capital of Western China." According to public records from the Jiajiang County Government and Sichuan Economic Daily (2024), the county hosts 53 ceramics enterprises operating 82 production lines with an annual capacity of 470 million square meters — approximately 60% of Sichuan's total ceramics capacity and 30% of Western China's.

In 2023, above-scale ceramics enterprises generated output of RMB 8.1 billion, contributing 43% of the county's total above-scale industrial output value and paying RMB 192 million in taxes. Direct employment exceeds 11,000; the full upstream-downstream chain supports roughly 100,000 jobs.

Over the past three years, county ceramics firms collectively invested RMB 1.45 billion in green upgrading projects. Jiajiang now has 18 ceramics enterprises rated Class-B Leading Performance for environmental standards — the highest count in Sichuan province.

The Emei Foothills: Cement Industry Corridor

Sichuan is a major cement-producing province in Western China. According to China Cement Association (CCA) data, as of end-2023 the province had 109 clinker production lines (93 in operation, 16 idle), with a total designed capacity of approximately 353,800 tonnes per day and actual annual cement capacity exceeding 200 million tonnes.

Provincial cement output was approximately 120 million tonnes in 2023, down 7.7% year-on-year, following a decline of roughly 8% in 2022. Esheng Cement Group (headquartered near Mount Emei) is the most prominent local cement company in Sichuan and Western China, with clinker capacity surpassing 9.17 million tonnes and ranking among China's top 24 by clinker capacity. The 2024 global cement capacity Top 100 list placed Esheng at 74th, with total cement capacity exceeding 12 million tonnes.

Huaxin Cement, following its integration of LafargeHolcim China's non-listed assets, now holds combined capacity of approximately 19.47 million tonnes across Sichuan, Chongqing, and Yunnan.

Phosphogypsum Products: Yibin and Dazhou as Emerging Growth Zones

Sichuan is a significant phosphate chemical producer, and the industry generates large volumes of phosphogypsum as a byproduct. In December 2024, the Sichuan Provincial Department of Economy and Information Technology, together with ten other departments, issued the Sichuan Phosphogypsum Comprehensive Utilization Implementation Plan. It designates Yibin, Dazhou, and Liangshan as priority regions for phosphogypsum utilization, targeting dynamic balance between output and consumption by 2026, along with cultivation of two to three phosphogypsum utilization industrial bases.

The conversion of phosphogypsum into building materials — gypsum board, plaster, filling compounds — is repositioning what was a legacy solid-waste problem as an incremental growth track within the non-metallic mineral products sector.

III. Upstream-Downstream Structure

The sector's upstream depends on local deposits of limestone, kaolin, feldspar, and phosphate ore. Sichuan holds competitive reserves of limestone in particular, underpinning the natural locational advantages of its cement and glass industries.

Downstream demand flows through three channels:

  • Cement and flat glass are primarily absorbed by real estate and infrastructure projects, and are thus highly sensitive to fixed-asset investment cycles;
  • Architectural ceramics reach more dispersed end-markets, including large-scale fitment procurement and fragmented retail channels;
  • Refractory materials serve industrial kiln operators — steel, non-ferrous metals, and chemical companies — with Baosteel Desheng and Pangang Group representing stable anchor customers in Sichuan;
  • Phosphogypsum-derived building products remain in an early scaling phase.

IV. Overcapacity and the Green Transition

The cement sub-sector faces the most acute structural pressures. Nationally, clinker capacity utilization fell to approximately 59% in 2023 — the lowest recorded level. Sichuan's situation tracks the national trend. Off-peak production scheduling has become standard practice: in 2023, 89 full-process cement enterprises in the province averaged more than 168 idle days. The 2025 baseline for off-peak scheduling was raised further to 190 days per line, signaling that supply restriction through production curtailment has reached a structurally embedded stage.

The ceramics sector faces similar dynamics. Jiajiang's response has been to pivot toward high-value products — sintered stone slabs, thin-profile panels — while investing in kiln efficiency improvements, seeking quality differentiation to partially offset commodity-level price competition.

In flat glass, photovoltaic (solar) compressed glass has absorbed most of the new capacity investment in recent years. But conventional float glass lines in Sichuan also face demand contraction, and some operators have begun converting existing lines to solar applications.

V. Closing Observation

The difficulty confronting Sichuan's non-metallic mineral products industry is less a question of resource endowment than one of demand-cycle headwinds compounded by capacity path-lock. Jiajiang's documented progress in green manufacturing and product differentiation, alongside the nascent conversion of phosphogypsum into building materials, offer two structural trajectories worth tracking. The true test for both enterprises and local governments is whether the window of demand contraction can be used to complete the strategic shift from volume expansion to quality depth — a transition that cement, ceramics, and glass sub-sectors are each navigating at different stages.

Sales teams supplying upstream inputs to Sichuan's cement plants, ceramics factories, glass works, and refractory manufacturers can use Tianxia Gongchang to filter factory directories and key decision-maker contacts by region and sub-industry.

Data Sources

  • Tianxia Gongchang (Sichuan non-metallic mineral products factory directory and industry data)
  • Sichuan Provincial Bureau of Statistics, Third Bulletin of the Fifth National Economic Census of Sichuan Province — Second Industry Overview, March 2025
  • Sichuan Provincial Bureau of Statistics, 2023 Sichuan Statistical Communiqué on National Economic and Social Development, March 2024
  • Jiajiang County Government and Sichuan Economic Daily, reporting on Jiajiang ceramics industry, October 2024
  • Sichuan Provincial Department of Economy and Information Technology, Notice on Completion of 2023 Cement Industry Off-Peak Production Tasks, March 2024
  • China Cement Association (CCA), 2023 China Cement Industry Economic Review and 2024 Outlook, Digital Cement Network, January 2024
  • Cement Network, 2024 China Cement Clinker Capacity Top 100 List, 2024
  • Sichuan Provincial Department of Economy and Information Technology et al., Sichuan Phosphogypsum Comprehensive Utilization Implementation Plan, December 2024
  • 100njz.com (Centennial Building Network), 2023 Sichuan Cement Market Review and 2024 Outlook, January 2024