Vietnam’s cement plants will raise their capacity by 10% between now and 2008 in order to meet the increasing demand for the product in the country, said General Director of the Vietnam Cement Corp (VNCC), Le Van Chung. 
 
He said no more new cement plant will be put into operation during the period so existing plants must run at full capacity to be able to supply enough cement for the domestic market. 
 
VNCC will continue to accelerate its expansion of cement plants including Hoang Thach 3, But Son 2 and Bim Son in the northern region and Ha Tien I and II in the southern region, Mr. Chung said. 
 
Vietnam’s demand for cement is estimated to increase by 8-10% between now and 2010. Currently, the country is capable of producing 29Mt of cement and 19Mt of clinker, a material used in cement production. 
 
The Ministry of Construction has recently asked the corporation to boost the tempo of the construction of cement plants so as to raise the country’s annual output to 50Mt by 2010, Chung said. 
 
He added that his corporation has drawn up an investment plan, with focus being placed on building production chains employing modern technology and high productivity but causing no harm to the environment. 
 
According to the Vietnam Cement Association, the domestic market will consume 31.5-32Mt of cement this year. 
 
Last year, Vietnam’s cement consumption was reported to reach 28.9Mt, ranking the country third in ASEAN while its combined designed capacity just took the fourth position.