HCMC – The Ministry of Construction forecasts this year’s total cement consumption volume to rise by 1.5-3% year-on-year to 62-63 million tons, with the exports of cement and clinker accounting for 13.5-14 million tons.
According to a report of the ministry on cement consumption, enterprises sold 61.2 million tons of cement last year, with the domestic consumption taking up 47.5 million tons, equivalent to 96.5% of the target. However, last year’s cement export increased strongly by 62% to nearly 14 million tons.
The lower-than-targeted consumption last year, according to the ministry, resulted from a series of stagnant construction and real estate projects.
The total capacity of local cement plants is around 70 million tons. The ministry said it had checked cement projects implemented in the 2012-2015 period, eliminated nine projects and delayed seven projects to after 2015.
According to reports of some big cement producers, their profits earned last year were not high.
Ha Tien 1 Cement Co. earned up to VND6.624 trillion in revenue last year but its profit was a trivial sum of VND2.5 billion. The company made a profit of nearly VND73 billion in the fourth quarter thanks to the increasing selling volume, better prices and the falling production costs, and thus was able to cover losses incurred in the third quarter.