Vietnam unlikely to reach cement export of 1Mt this year
Vietnam Cement Industry Corp (Vicem) targets to reach 1Mt of cement export in 2010 but according to a report by IntellAsia this target is not achievable due to competition from Thai supplies. According to Nguyen Ngoc Anh, general director of Vicem said that the corporation now has 97 cement production lines with total designed capacity of 57.4Mt. By the end of 2010, a further 13 new lines with a capacity of 11.7Mt will be put into operation,
Over the past five years, some cement companies operating under Vicem, namely Cam Pha, Hoang Thach, Ha Tien 1, Hoang Mai exported products to of Africa, Middle East and Cambodia but their export volume remained low. Therefore, Vicem recently cooperated with its member companies to organise surveys in many regional markets for the preparation of a cement export plan.
After the surveys, a number of cement export deals was signed, namely to countries such as Cambodia and Laos. Many specialists said that Vietnam’s cement export will likely suffer the heavy competitive pressure from importers’ domestic market. Also, the big markets like Europe and US are dominated by Thai cement. Vietnam will have difficultly seeking buyers in the markets where Thailand’s cement is already sold because Thailand’s clinker price is cheaper.
Source: IntellAsia Published under Cement News
