Vietnam is estimated to have produced 23.5Mt of cement in the first five months of 2013, up 7.4 per cent from the same period of last year, the General Statistics Office has said.

The government-run office has marginally revised down the country’s output in the first four months of this year to 17.8Mt from a previous estimate of 17.9Mt.

Output in May is expected to have risen by 18.7 per cent YoY to 5.7Mt, the GSO said in recent report.

This year, cement sales are expected to rise by 5-8 per cent to 48-49Mt, compared to the 45Mt consumed in 2012.