China production rises in first eight months

China's cement and clinker production totalled 1.52bnt and 888Mt in the first eight months of 2013, up 9.2 per cent and 5.2 per cent respectively from the same period of a year earlier, according to the China Cement Association.

The southwestern and northwestern regions saw the fastest growth rates of 14.6 per cent and 15.4 per cent, while production in the northeast continued to decline, and production in the north remained unchanged compared with a year earlier, bucking the downward trend in the first half.