Vietnam white cement secures ISO standard

A white cement company has become the first Vietnamese cement producer to be awarded an international standard certificate. Germany¹s Tuv Rheinland Group granted the ISO 9001 certificate last week to the State-owned Materials Trading and Building Materials Import and Export Company. The cement, sold under the name of White Horse, is one of several major products of the company, which operates under the Building Materials Corporation No1.

The cement factory, located in Bien Hoa Industrial Park No1 in the southern province of Dong Nai, has an annual production capacity of 100,000t. Its products are sold domestically and abroad. Company director, Luong Minh Nhat, said the company began to build a quality management system in 2002 in the hope of improving product quality and global competitiveness. Nhat said the latest technology and equipment was purchased with assistance from the Siam Cement Thailand Group, a leading white cement producer in the Southeast Asian region. "All the company¹s efforts now have paid off. In spite of being present on the market for just one year, White Horse white cement has quickly gained prestige, and now has ISO 9001 accreditation, an essential ticket to enter the world and regional markets," Nhat said. The cement is equal in quality but cheaper than imported brands, he also noted.

With 500 agents and shops across the country, the company holds a 30 per cent share of the white cement market in the southern region, and expects to increase that share to 50 per cent in the coming years. This year, it plans to export its product to regional countries, including Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and the Philippines.