Ministry of Construction drafts new cement industry development plan

Ministry of Construction drafts new cement industry development plan
21 January 2010


The Ministry of Construction is drafting the country’s cement industry development plan until 2015 with a view to 2025 to submit to the Government in late March.

The draft is the fourth development plan adjusted for the industry within the past 12 years. The latest plan until 2010 with a view to 2020, which had been approved a few years ago, proved unworkable as domestic cement supply exceeded demand earlier than expected.

After many years suffering from a cement shortage, the industry for the first time met domestic demand at the end of last year.

According to the construction ministry, by the end of 2009, with 105 cement production lines, the industry churned out 50Mt,about 5Mt beyond domestic demand of 44-45Mt.

The Viet Nam Cement Association predicts that this year’s cement demand will surge roughly 4-5Mt to 48-50Mt.

Therefore, roughly 10Mt will be redundant if existing cement plants run at full capacity.

It is expected that 13 new cement production lines will come into operation this year with an additional annual design capacity of 11.7Mt. Twelve new lines in 2011will churn out 9.35Mta more.

Due to the glut, the ministry has recently required cities and provinces nationwide to stop granting licences for new cement production projects until 2020.
Published under Cement News