Vietnam: no more cement projects for now
The Ministry of Construction (MOC) has officially asked the authorities of 14 cities and localities to halt registering more cement projects in the period from now to 2015 in order to take full advantage of the operational plants and avoid redundancy. The ministry has made the request as experts warned that cement capacity may exceed demand if more cement plants are put into operation in the time to come.
According to Nguyen Tran Nam, Deputy Minister of Construction, the strategy on the cement industry development by 2010 with a vision towards 2020 was approved by the Prime Minister on May 16, 2005. MOC, considering the demand increase and development potential, has asked the government to add 15 cement projects to the list of investment projects, which have the total capacity of 26.2m.
MOC has also submitted documents agreeing to the investment of 20 B-group investment projects and the conversion of blast furnace plants into reverter furnace plants with the total capacity of 13.89Mt.
With the current investment rates, it is expected that 11 projects will be put into operation in 2008 which have the total capacity of 12.28Mt. Meanwhile, 17 projects will become operational in 2009 with the capacity of 19.43Mt, and 18 projects with the capacity of 13.96Mt will become operational in 2010.
If everything goes as planned, in 2009, domestic output will be able to meet domestic demand, and Vietnam will not have to import clinker. In 2010, domestic output will be 4.7m higher than the demand. The figures will be 16.7Mt in 2011 and 28.5Mt in 2012. In 2013, the excess volume will be 28m, while the figures will be 24Mt in 2014 and 17.6Mt in 2015.
At the request of the Prime Minister, MOC has been checking the strategy on cement industry development. It is possible that some investment projects, which are facing financial difficulties or difficulties in site clearance, will be delayed.
Therefore, MOC has requested local authorities of the provinces and cities of Ha Nam, Ninh Binh, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien-Hue, Hoa Binh, Hai Duong, Bac Giang, Quang Ninh, Phu Tho, Yen Bai and Hai Phong not to register any more cement projects from now to 2015. Published under Cement News
