Ground Granulated Blast-Furnace Slag (GGBFS) Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity, and Forecast, Segmented By Type (Alkalinity Blast-Furnace Slag, Acidic Blast-Furnace Slag), By Application (Portland Cement and Concrete, Bricks and Blocks, Road Construction, Soil Stabilization, Waste Treatment, Others), By Region and Competition 2021-2031F

Forecast Period	2027-2031
Market Size (2025)	417.83 Million Tonnes
CAGR (2026-2031)	2.86%
Fastest Growing Segment	Bricks and Blocks
Largest Market	Asia Pacific
Market Size (2031)	494.82 Million Tonnes

Market Overview

The Global Ground Granulated Blast-Furnace Slag (GGBFS) Market will grow from 417.83 Million Tonnes in 2025 to 494.82 Million Tonnes by 2031 at a 2.86% CAGR. Ground Granulated Blast-Furnace Slag (GGBFS) is a hydraulic binder obtained by quenching molten iron slag from a blast furnace in water or steam to produce a glassy, granular product that is subsequently dried and ground into a fine powder. The market is primarily driven by the escalating global demand for sustainable construction materials, as GGBFS significantly reduces the embodied carbon of concrete by serving as a partial substitute for Portland cement. Furthermore, the material enhances the durability and chemical resistance of structures, particularly in aggressive environments, which supports its widespread adoption in long-term infrastructure projects.

One significant challenge that could impede market expansion is the tightening supply of raw materials due to the steel industry's strategic shift from blast furnaces to electric arc furnaces for decarbonization purposes. This constraint on feedstock availability impacts regional consumption volumes. According to EUROSLAG, in 2024, approximately 20.0 million tons of granulated blast furnace slag were utilized specifically in the cement industry within the European Union.

Key Market Drivers

Accelerating Global Demand for Sustainable and Low-Carbon Construction Materials is the primary force propelling the Global Ground Granulated Blast-Furnace Slag (GGBFS) Market. As the construction sector faces intensifying pressure to decarbonize, GGBFS is increasingly utilized to lower the clinker factor in concrete, thereby reducing embodied carbon. Major industry players are transparently reporting these sustainability gains to meet stringent net-zero targets. According to Heidelberg Materials, March 2024, in the 'Annual and Sustainability Report 2023', the company achieved a reduction in specific net CO2 emissions to 534 kg per tonne of cementitious material, a milestone largely attributed to the increased use of supplementary cementitious materials like slag. This trend underscores the critical role of GGBFS in enabling manufacturers to achieve environmental performance metrics while maintaining material strength.

Robust Expansion of Infrastructure Development and Urbanization Projects Worldwide acts as the second major catalyst for market growth. The need for high-performance concrete in large-scale projects, such as bridges and roadways, necessitates materials that offer superior durability. To meet this surging demand, companies are investing heavily in new capacity. According to The Times of India, May 2024, in the article 'JSW to invest Rs 3,000 crore for integrated cement plant in Rajasthan', JSW Cement announced an investment of INR 3,000 crore to establish a new facility to service the infrastructure needs of northern India. This expansion reflects broader consumption trends; according to the U.S. Geological Survey, January 2024, in the 'Mineral Commodity Summaries 2024', the estimated value of U.S. domestic iron and steel slag sales totaled $900 million in 2023, highlighting the substantial economic scale of these materials.

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Key Market Challenges

The strategic transition of the steel industry toward electric arc furnaces (EAF) hampers the GGBFS market by fundamentally constraining the supply of its sole raw material. GGBFS production relies exclusively on the rapid quenching of molten slag from blast furnaces to create a cementitious glassy structure. However, the steel industry is progressively retiring blast furnaces in favor of EAF technology to meet decarbonization goals. Slag produced via the EAF route varies significantly in chemical composition and cooling capability, rendering it unsuitable for use as a high-quality hydraulic binder in concrete applications.

This reduction in blast furnace operations creates a critical bottleneck in feedstock availability, limiting the market's ability to scale despite rising demand for low-carbon cement. The scarcity is quantitatively evident in recent production shifts. According to the World Steel Association, in 2024, the share of electric arc furnaces in global crude steel production reached 29.1%. As this proportion increases, the volume of blast furnace slag accessible for granulation declines, restricting production capacity and creating supply deficits in key regional markets.

Key Market Trends

The Rising Adoption of Ternary and Quaternary Binder Systems is fundamentally altering GGBFS utilization, as producers move beyond simple binary blends to optimize clinker reduction. Manufacturers are increasingly formulating complex binder systems that combine slag with other supplementary cementitious materials, such as limestone filler or fly ash, to overcome the early-age strength constraints of traditional high-slag cements. This technological evolution allows for significantly higher substitution rates by maximizing particle packing and chemical synergies, thereby pushing the limits of decarbonization in concrete. According to CemNet, October 2025, in the article 'Ecocem achieves Up to 60% CO2 reduction with ACT Technology in the USA', Ecocem's scalable ACT technology, which utilizes such a multi-component system, confirmed an embodied carbon footprint of just 345 kg CO2 per tonne by reducing clinker content by up to 70% and replacing it with locally sourced supplementary materials.

A Shift Towards High-Volume Clinker Substitution is evident in the commercial strategies of global cement majors, who are aggressively expanding the sales share of slag-intensive product lines to transition them from niche eco-offerings to core revenue generators. Companies are actively re-engineering their portfolios to prioritize branded low-carbon cements that rely heavily on GGBFS, effectively normalizing high-substitution rates in standard construction projects. This commercial mainstreaming is directly driving the scale of slag procurement and its integration into ready-mix operations. According to World Cement, February 2025, in the article 'Holcim announce 2024 financial results', the company's ECOPlanet range, which leverages slag to deliver lower carbon footprints, expanded significantly to account for 26% of total cement net sales in 2024, up from 19% the previous year.

Segmental Insights

Based on recent industry analysis, the Bricks and Blocks segment is emerging as the fastest-growing category within the Global Ground Granulated Blast-Furnace Slag (GGBFS) Market. This rapid expansion is primarily driven by the escalating global demand for sustainable construction materials that comply with rigorous green building standards. Manufacturers are increasingly utilizing GGBFS as a partial replacement for Portland cement in masonry units to significantly lower carbon emissions. Furthermore, the incorporation of GGBFS enhances the structural integrity of bricks and blocks by improving compressive strength, reducing water absorption, and offering superior resistance to chemical deterioration such as sulfate attacks.

Regional Insights

Asia Pacific dominates the Global Ground Granulated Blast-Furnace Slag market due to the robust expansion of the construction sector in emerging economies like China and India. The region benefits from a massive steel manufacturing base, ensuring an abundant supply of the raw slag required for processing. Additionally, increasing investments in residential and commercial infrastructure projects drive the consumption of slag as a cost-effective partial replacement for Portland cement. This synergy between high raw material availability and sustained demand from the cement industry secures the region's leading position.

Recent Developments

• In August 2024, Boral commenced operations at its new grinding plant in Geelong, Victoria, which was engineered to process granulated blast-furnace slag and clinker. The facility features a grinding capacity of 1.3 million tonnes per annum and was developed to support the organization's strategy of increasing the adoption of supplementary cementitious materials. By utilizing slag to substitute a portion of cement in concrete production, the plant aimed to lower embodied carbon emissions and reduce landfill waste. This expansion also strengthened the company’s supply chain capabilities, providing a reliable source of sustainable construction materials for local infrastructure projects.
• In August 2024, JSW Cement reported that it had secured an 83% market share in the Indian ground granulated blast-furnace slag sector for the fiscal year ending March 2024. Concurrently, the firm announced that it had entered into long-term agreements with a major steel producer to procure a consistent supply of blast furnace slag. These raw material security arrangements, spanning three to five years, were designed to insulate the company from input cost volatility. This development underscored the organization's strategy to scale its production of green cement and capitalize on the rising demand for sustainable infrastructure materials in the region.
• In June 2024, Heidelberg Materials North America announced the successful conversion of its manufacturing site in Speed, Indiana, into a specialized slag grinding facility. Following the commissioning of a new plant in Mitchell, the company transitioned the Speed facility to focus exclusively on producing slag cement from domestically sourced granules. With an annual grinding capacity exceeding 400,000 tonnes, the repurposed site was established to address the growing demand for sustainable construction materials in the Midwest. This operational shift enabled the firm to supply slag cement that significantly lowers the environmental impact of concrete by replacing a portion of traditional Portland cement.
• In March 2024, Ecocem launched its ACT technology, a scalable low-carbon cement solution that extensively utilizes ground granulated blast-furnace slag to minimize clinker usage. This innovation, which notably received a European Technical Assessment, enables the production of cement with a clinker content as low as 20%, resulting in a reduction of carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 70% compared to average European blends. The company announced its intention to supply the first commercial volumes of this slag-based cement to European markets within the year, positioning the technology as a cost-effective route to decarbonize the industry without requiring major changes to existing manufacturing processes.

Key Market Players

• JSW Cement Limited
• Sagar Cement Limited
• TATA Steel Limited
• Boral Limited
• JFE Mineral & Alloy Company,Ltd.
• Lafarge Group
• Super Cement Manufacturing Company LLC
• Ecocem
• AfriSam South Africa Pty Ltd.
• ArcelorMittal S.A.

By Type	By Application	By Region
Alkalinity Blast-Furnace Slag Acidic Blast-Furnace Slag	Portland Cement and Concrete Bricks and Blocks Road Construction Soil Stabilization Waste Treatment Others	North America Europe Asia Pacific South America Middle East & Africa

Report Scope:

In this report, the Global Ground Granulated Blast-Furnace Slag (GGBFS) Market has been segmented into the following categories, in addition to the industry trends which have also been detailed below:

• Ground Granulated Blast-Furnace Slag (GGBFS) Market, By Type:

• Alkalinity Blast-Furnace Slag
• Acidic Blast-Furnace Slag

• Ground Granulated Blast-Furnace Slag (GGBFS) Market, By Application:

• Portland Cement and Concrete
• Bricks and Blocks
• Road Construction
• Soil Stabilization
• Waste Treatment
• Others

• Ground Granulated Blast-Furnace Slag (GGBFS) Market, By Region:

• North America
• United States
• Canada
• Mexico
• Europe
• France
• United Kingdom
• Italy
• Germany
• Spain
• Asia Pacific
• China
• India
• Japan
• Australia
• South Korea
• South America
• Brazil
• Argentina
• Colombia
• Middle East & Africa
• South Africa
• Saudi Arabia
• UAE