Vietnam boosting cement export on domestic oversupply

HANOI, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's cement producers will give priority to boosting exports as domestic supply still exceeds demand while the local market outlook remains gloomy in the foreseeable future, industry insiders said.

Citing statistics by the Ministry of Construction (MoC), Vietnam News daily on Thursday reported that the country's total cement output in 2013 hit 70 million tons. Meanwhile, some 61 million tons of cement were sold in domestic and world markets, up 14 percent year on year.

Vietnam is predicted to witness an oversupply of eight to 12 million tons of cement annually due to many cement plants being put into operation, said MoC.

At present, Vietnam has 106 cement factories. The oversupply in Vietnam's cement sector will be even bigger as a new 7-million-ton cement plant of Vissai Cement Group in northern Ha Nam province comes on stream in 2014, MoC statistics showed.

According to Vietnam's General Statistics Office on Thursday, in January, Vietnam produced 4.8 million tons of cement, up 3.2 percent year on year.

Although Vietnam's construction material market has seen slight recovery signs in recent months after two years of sluggishness, significant improvements in purchasing power cannot be expected.

Dao Ngoc Binh, general director of Vietnam Cement Industry Corporation (Vicem) Hoang Thach, a subsidiary of Vicem in central Nghe An Province, was quoted by Vietnam News as saying that due to fierce competition in the domestic market crowded with too many cement producers, many companies have turned to increasing exports.

Echoing Binh, Tran Viet Thang, general director of Vicem, said that the country's cement exports reached a record high of more than 14 million tons in 2013.

Main markets for Vietnam's cement include countries in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. In Southeast Asian region alone, Malaysia and Indonesia are the nation's largest importers of cement, said Thang.

Local economist Tran Minh Hai at Vietnam's National University, southern Ho Chi Minh City branch, proposed domestic construction material producers come up with effective export strategies, saying that focus should be put on pricing, quality and sales promotion.

Source: Xinhua