Vietnam: cement consumption on the rise

Vietnam's Ministry of Construction forecast that about 52-53Mt of cement and clinker will be consumed in the domestic market in 2014 with an additional 18-21Mt exported. Vietnam’s cement production currently includes 74 kiln lines with a total output capacity of 77Mta.

In the first 10 months of 2014, Vietnamese cement producers sold 56.54Mt of cement and clinker. According to the Vietnam Cement Association, cement exports this year could earn as much as US$1bn via the export of 20-21Mt of cement and clinker, a 15-per cent YoY increase in value.

Tran Viet Thang, director general of the Vietnam Cement Industry Corporation (Vicem), which provides 34 per cent of the cement sector's output, said Vicem alone exported about 1.8 Mt of cement and clinker in the 9M14 and plans to sell 1Mt more in the last quarter of the year.