Prices of cement in the Vietnamese market are now up 1.8-2.4 per cent from early this year due to higher production cost and local demand, according to the country’ s Ministry of Trade on Thursday. The higher prices are mainly due to rising prices of clinker and coal. Import prices of clinker from Thailand have increased 20 per cent since late 2004 to around 26 US dollars per tonne and prices of local coal, main fuel of cement plants, have also soared more than 30 per cent.
Meanwhile, local demand for cement is increasing as the construction season in the country has started. The Vietnam National Cement Corporation sold nearly 32,000t of cement every day in the first week of March, up some 4000t from the daily figure in the previous week.
Vietnam posted total cement sales of some 26Mt in 2004, up from 23Mt in 2003. It is expected to consume 29Mt of cement this year, 46.8Mt in 2010, some 62.5Mt in 2015 and around 69Mt in 2020, the ministry said.
The country, which has 61 cement facilities with annual combined capacity of around 20Mt, is predicted to import around 6Mt of clinker this year.
