Vietnamese market contracts 13%, but exports rise in April

Vietnamese cement sales fell by 13 per cent YoY and seven per cent MoM to 6,316,583t in April 2019, according to the Vietnam National Cement Association (VNCA).

Of this total VICEM plants sold 2.158Mt, or three per cent less when compared with April 2018. Sales were down eight per cent from 2.338Mt in March 2019. VICEM joint ventures saw their sales slip by four per cent YoY and by eight per cent MoM to 1.799Mt during the same period. Vietnam’s other cement producers reported a 19 per cent YoY and six per cent MoM drop in sales to 2.36Mt in April 2019.

In terms of exports, cement shipments rose 43 per cent YoY to 1.043Mt in April 2019 while clinker exports slipped four per cent YoY to just under 1.8Mt. When compared with the previous month, cement exports declined 12 per cent while clinker exports saw a drop of 19 per cent.

Of total cement exports, the Philippines represented the largest market by some distance. The second-largest customer was China, while significant volumes were bought by South Africa, Peru, Mali, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Cambodia. Clinker exports were mainly shipped to China , followed by Bangladesh, Taiwan, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea.

January-April 2019
In the January-April 2019 period, Vietnamese producers saw sales slip by one per cent YoY to 31.721Mt, according to the VNCA.

Of this total, they sold 20.443Mt of cement in the domestic market, representing a volume contraction of two per cent when compared with the 4M18.

In addition, the country exported some 11.278Mt of cement and clinker in the first four months of 2019, up one per cent when compared with the 4M19.