Vietnam orders halt to clinker imports
The Vietnamese Ministry of Construction has requested businesses to stop importing clinker until the end of 2011 to halt the country’s widening trade gap. In August, around 110,000t of clinker crossed the border into Vietnam with January-August totals at 1.71Mt.
Moreover, it encourages cement producers to increase exports between 0.5-1Mt this year and raise export volumes even further in the coming years to reduce the increasing national glut. On 23 September, Hoang Phat Vissai Group Co Ltd signed a deal with Hong Kong’s Peakward Enterprises Holdings Ltd to export 1.2Mt of clinker to Bangladesh, the largest shipment to date in the country. In addition, Cong Thanh JSC shipped 30,000t of clinker to China via Nghi Son port, north central Vietnam.
Vietnam is rapidly expanding its production base and the Ministry of Construction is concerned that the country will face a cement surplus of at least 2Mt this year. The ministry intends to submit a new development planning draft for the cement industry until 2015 with a vision for future developments through 2025 to the Prime Minister by the end of this year.
Source: Vietnam News Brief Service Published under Cement News
