More plans from Vietnam

The State-owned Vietnam Cement Corporation has a plan to build a further eight cement plants and cement production lines. The new plants will include the Binh Phuoc Cement Plant in Binh Phuoc province, the Ha Tien 2-2 Plant in Kien Giang province and the Cam Pha, Ha Long and Thang Long plants in Quang Ninh province.  

Meanwhile, new production lines will be built at the Hoang Thach Plant in Hai Duong province, the Bim Son Plant in Thanh Hoa province and the But Son plant in Ha Nam province.   The new facilities will add 14.8Mt to the country’s annual cement output, the corporation said.  

The cement industry will need at least $1.4 billion in investment capital this year to expand existing cement plants and build new ones in the central, southern and northern mountainous regions with the aim at balancing the cement, according to the Ministry of Construction.    The ministry also said that it would not invest in building shaft kiln cement plants because this technology was too old-fashioned, less effective and caused environmental pollution.  

The domestic cement consumption is forecast to be around 28.4Mt in 2005, up 10 per cent against last year.   In related news, the Ministry of Finance has recently issued a decision to reduce the tariff on clinker imported from non-ASEAN countries from 25 per cent to 10 per cent. The move, largely applauded by local cement producers, is aimed at sufficiently supplying clinker for the local cement industry. Landed clinker are reported at US$27-28/t.