Cement industry sees hard times

Domestic cement consumption in the first half of the year dropped by up to 40 per cent.

Industry experts attributed declining demand to the fact that firms had stockpiled huge amounts of cement in anticipation of price increases.

The Viet Nam Cement Association also said the country was facing stiffer competition from imports.

In response to declining demand, local enterprises have reduced prices by about VND20,000 (U$1.08) per tonne against the previous month.

The current price stands at about VND900,000 to VND1.26 million ($48.6-68) per tonne against market estimates of VND950,000-1.15 million ($51-62).

The association said that cement productivity last month was 4.4 million tonnes, a decrease of 0.03 million tonnes against the previous month.

Consumption last month reached just 4.3 million tonnes.

Domestic firms said they were having to compete with colleagues from Thailand and China who are charging about 10 per cent less than local producers.

There are 105 cement plants in the country, producing about 61 million tonnes a year.

The Building Materials Department said production this year would be about 53 million tonnes, while demand is estimated to be about 50 million tonnes.

Despite the downturn in the market, firms such as Ha Tien and Cam Pha have managed to penetrate markets in Laos, Cambodia and China.

To bolster prices, the industry has asked the Ministry of Construction to stop licensing new cement projects. — VNS

Tags: Vietnam cement, Vietnam cement industry