Exports key to cement industry

Many cement producers are trying to find ways to export their products in the belief that they would be able to settle the current redundancy problem and ensure turnover.

Viet Nam now is known as one of the world’s biggest cement producers with an average yearly production of over 50 million tonnes.

According to the General Statistics Office, in 2009, cement producers turned out 45 million tonnes of cement and 0.22 million tonnes of clinker. The industry’s cement output reached 11.13 million tonnes in the first three months of this year.

Industry insiders said that the domestic demand for this year has been estimated at between 50 to 51.5 million tonnes, and production is set to surpass this by about 2 million tonnes.

Cement producers have been advised to deal with the surplus by finding overseas markets.

The Viet Nam Cement Industry Corporation (Vicem) has been a pioneer in cement exports. Late in 2008, the company started to seek opportunities to export their products to neighbouring markets like Cambodia, Laos and mainland China. However, the volumes exported over the last two years were still very modest.

Vicem has set itself the export target of 1 million tonnes for this year.

Other cement producers are also seeking export contracts in bigger markets such as Africa, Europe, and America.

The Cam Pha Cement Company has exported 12,500 tonnes of cement to the African market. It has also won a contract to supply 40,000 tonnes of cement a month to South Africa and the neighbouring territories.

The Ha Tien Cement Company, meanwhile, also exported more than 16,000 tonnes of cement products to Cambodia while the Hoang Mai Cement Company signed contracts and began exporting to Africa and the Middle-East.

While experts say exports are an effective measure to help regulate the domestic market and deal with surplus production, they note that significant costs were incurred as intermediary fees, making Vietnamese cement products less competitive.

Others say it is not realistic for most domestic cement enterprises to engage in export because they lack the experience.

VIETNAMNEWS

Tags: Vietnam cement exports, Vietnam cement industry