Vietnam cement sector expected to be sluggish in 2012
Vietnam’s cement sector is expected to remain sluggish in 2012 due to the continuing difficulties in production and business this year, Vietnam news agency reported, citing experts on Sunday.
A member of the National Assembly’s Economic Committee Tran Du Lich said that next year, the building material market would continue its slow growth due to the frozen property market, tightening credit policies and cuts in public construction project investment.
The Vietnam Cement Association estimated that the domestic market would need 55-56.5Mt of cement and 4-4.5Mt of clinker and cement for export next year. Experts believe that the industry would still experience many difficulties in production and business due to high input costs related to electricity and coal prices.
The domestic cement market has retained large stocks with capacity hitting 60Mt on a demand of 50Mt this year.
Nguyen Tran Nam, Deputy Minister of construction said that production costs had been driven up, increasing retail cement prices. The industry needs modern technology to increase production and lower operational and logistical costs, Nam said. Published under Cement News
