Lao cement eyes lower sales price
Lao cement eyes lower sales price
Some Lao cement manufacturers have plans to further improve the quality of their products while at the same time finessing their production processes to ensure a lower cost of manufacture leading to a reduction in sales price to ensure Laos does not become a marketplace solely for other Asean countries to exploit.
As the country is moving rapidly forward in preparations for the Asean Economic Community at the end of next year, the growth in new and improved infrastructure calls for more cement production to meet the greatly increased demand.
Deputy Director of Lao Vangvieng Cement Plant No. 1 Mr Bouasone Keopaserth told Vientiane Times reporters during a field visit to the plant last weekend that Laos will need even more cement production when regional economic integration comes into force.
“The production of Lao Vangvieng Cement factories nos. 1- 3 combined with the output from all the other cement manufacturers in the country, is still insufficient to meet the needs of our local market,” Mr Bouasone said, adding that AEC integration remains a tough challenge for local cement producers.
He explained that imported cement products were sold at a lower price in Lao markets due to the manufacturing cost being lower.
Lao Vangvieng Cement Plant No. 1 was established by the government at a cost of US$ 13.9 million. The factory is able to produce around 73,000 tonnes per year with fully installed Chinese technology.
Cement plants nos. 2 and 3 are joint ventures between Laos and China with the capacity to supply around 1.1 million tonnes per year.
The Lao economy is growing robustly with infrastructure projects such as roads and dams being developed ahead of when the Asean single market comes into force.
With other major infrastructure projects being considered, such as the double-track railway, Laos also expects to require a substantial growth in cement production capacity, rising from the current level of 3.84 tonnes to around 10.64 million tonnes per year in the near future.
The government has issued licences for studies on the construction of five new cement factories this year, after it issued an approval in 2012 for an investor group to conduct a cement production investment study.
The Lao Cement Producers Association recently reported that the five new factories include one in Oudomxay province and four in Khammuan province.
“These cement factories will have production capacities of about 6.8 million tonnes per year once construction is completed,” the report said.
There are 10 cement factories in operation at present with a total production capacity of 3.84 million tonnes per year.
Of these, two can be found in Vientiane, one in Luang Prabang province, three in Vangvieng district, Vientiane province, one in Xieng Khuang province, one in Khammuan province, one in Savannakhet province and one in Saravan province.
vientiane times
