Vietnam can become a cement exporting country by 2009, instead of importing huge volumes of clinker for local cement production as at present, says a special report by the Ministry of Construction.   The report, which has gone before the Government, says a number of cement projects are facing bottlenecks but the combined output capacity of existing producers has already exceeded the demand.  
 
In the next three years, the cement industry will no longer rely on clinker imports and have enough cement for local sale and export. 
 
The report puts the surplus cement volume by 2009 at around five million tons and the figure is projected to double by 2010 or 2011.  
 
“The State steering committee for cement production has foreseen this possibility (of cement export) and will ask major producers like Vietnam Cement Corp. to study potential export markets,says the report.  
 
“In their investment plans, some cement joint ventures such as Nghi Son have to export part of their output but due to strong local demand, they have yet to ship their product abroad. For new cement projects, authorities will pay greater attention to their export plans.