Vicem cement sales rise 30% in Jan-Feb

Vietnam Cement Industry Corp (Vicem) has reported a rise in overall cement and clinker sales for the first two months of the year but export volumes declined.

The country’s largest cement group sold 2.88Mt of cement and clinker in the first two months of the year, up by 30 per cent from a year earlier.

Some 2.85Mt of cement and clinker was sold on the domestic market, a 44.5 per cent YoY rise, while 24,000t of cement was exported which was a decline of 36.8 per cent on the previous year, the corporation said on its website.

In February alone, VIcem sold 1.04Mt, down 26.3 per cent YoY, of which 595,000t of cement and 436,000t of clinker were sold domestically and 8000t sent for export.

Vicem produced 1.35Mt of clinker and 669,000t of cement in February, raising the two-month output to 2.75Mt of clinker and 1.94Mt, up 24.9 per cent and 20.8 per cent YoY, respectively.

As of February 28, the group’s cement and clinker inventory stood at 1.74Mt, including 1.37Mt of clinker.
The corporation aims to sell 1.77Mt of cement and clinker in March, with 500,000t of cement and clinker exported.

Last year, Vicem sold 20.4Mt of cement and clinker in 2012, rising by 8.8 per cent YoY.