Companies in Vietnam sold 7.55Mt of cement in the first quarter of 2013, a 15% rise year-on-year compared to 2013 according to the Ministry of Construction. This occurred despite a year-on-year fall of 30% to 2Mt in March 2013. The country s cement production increased by 15% year-on-year to 8.14Mt, according to local media.
Due to the increase in cement sales between January and March 2013, the country s cement inventory dropped by 45% year-on-year to 40,000t. Local cement makers currently have huge inventories and domestic demand remains low due to a frozen real estate market. High production costs, high lending interest rates and rising input costs have also put a burden on local cement producers, the ministry noted.
The ministry predicts that the country s cement sales will rise by 5 - 8% year-on-year to 48 - 49Mt in 2013, equal to total sales of 2011. In 2012, Vietnam s cement sales stood at 53.6Mt, of which 45.5Mt was sold in the domestic market, down 7.1% on-year, while 8.1Mt of cement and clinker was exported, up 30%.