China’s cement industry plans to lift price for the fourth time in Oct.-Dec. 2008 as a result of eliminating 600Mt of obsolete production capacity and increasing industrial concentration, China Securities Journal reported. Guo Jingbin, executive director of Anhui Conch said that the company has lifted the price three times this year. The price went up 9.25 percent year on year in the first quarter and up 8-10 percent quarter on quarter in the second quarter.

Until the adjustment, China’s cement price had remained at a low level due to the industrial disorder and the recent price war. Some companies even had their cement prices equaling to those in the middle of 1990s, even when the coal price surged from 110 yuan/ton to over 700 yuan/ ton. Therefore, their pre-tax profit margins were much less than the record highs, according to China United Cement Corporation.
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