Cement prices rise three per cent on higher input costs
The Vietnam National Cement Corporation (VNCC), the country’s biggest cement producer, announced a hike of VND20,000 per ton in cement prices, up 3%, due to higher production costs of electricity, imported clinker and transportation, Vietnam News reports.
The above factors pushed up cement prices by about VND50,000 a ton over the past two years, said a VNCC official.
The corporation would increase prices gradually to avoid negative effects on the market, and would continue to cut production costs to enhance efficiency, he said.
VNCC would consider reasonable prices based on the purchasing power of different markets, while assuring healthy competition among cement enterprises, said corporation chairman Le Van Chung.
Prices will continue to be adjusted in the coming months, Chung said, adding a reasonable price would be $55-60 a ton, but it now stands at only around $50 a ton.
Vietnam Cement Association member enterprises also decided to increase cement prices by VND20,000 per ton in early March.
Demand for cement nationwide is expected to rise 10.5-11.5% annually over the next five years and might reach 50 million tons by 2010. Published under Cement News
