Vietnam first-quarter cement sales rise 15% YoY

Vietnam cement producers have reported a 15 per cent YoY rise in sales in the first quarter of 2013 to 7.55Mt, the Ministry of Construction (MoC) has reported.

The double-digit quarter rise comes despite a 30 per cent drop in March sales to 2Mt. Thanks to the increase in cement sales between January and March, the country’s cement inventory dropped by 45 per cent YoY to 40,000t, according ot the MoC.

The MoC forecasts that the country’s cement sales will rise between 5-8 per cent in 2013, taking demand back to levels last seen in 2011 of around 48-49Mt.

Last year, domestic sales stood at 53.6Mt, of which 45.5Mt was sold on the domestic market representing a decline of 7.1 per cent. Meanwhile, exports rose 30 per cent to 8.1Mt.