Vietnam sees double-digit rise in 9M13 sales

Vietnam sold 44.4Mt of cement in the first nine months of this year, representing an increase of 12 per cent YoY, the Building Materials Department under the Ministry of Construction has said. The total amount sold also included 10Mt of cement and clinker exports.

At present, the industry has around 2.6Mt of unsold products, mainly clinker, including 1.2Mta of cement and clinker from the Vietnam Cement Industry Corp (Vicem).

The department also said it expects the retail price of cement to rise in the fourth quarter due to the higher cost of input materials such as petroleum , coal and power. Last month, local producers raised prices by VND100,000/t despite domestic demand remaining weak.

Domestic sales are expected to rise by about 4-5 per cent in 2013 to 56-57Mt in 2013, including 7.5-8Mt of exports.