Cement exports struggle to compete
Cement exports struggle to compete
While exports were identified as a solution for the cement industry to deal with oversupply at home, there remains stiff competition from large producers, such as China, Thailand and Indonesia.
Statistics showed that cement and clinker exports in the first five months dropped by 24 per cent over the same period last year to 5.8 million tonnes. The Ministry of Construction said that cement exports to many markets were not as large this year, especially to Bangladesh – the biggest importer of Vietnamese cement last year.
Further, steep drops in cement exports was worrying domestic cement producers.
According to Nguyen Tien Dat, General Director of The Vissai Cement Group, cement and clinker export would hardly reached last year's results. He said cement exports from Viet Nam were struggling with rising supplies, while import demands had no signs of improvements.
In addition, cement prices from Viet Nam were less competitive than many other producing countries, according to the Viet Nam Cement Association.
Competition with other major cement exporters throughout the world was also harsh for Viet Nam, especially with China. Statistics showed that the world's total cement output was 4.18 billion tonnes last year, 60 per cent of which came from China.
