State-owned Vietnam Cement Industry Corporation (Vicem), the country’s leading cement producer, said it sold about 2.24Mt of cement and clinker in April, down 3.1 per cent from a year ago.

Of the volume, 1.74Mt of cement and clinker were sold in domestic market while 450,000t were exported. In the first four months, Vicem’s cement and clinker sales declined 4.9 per cent YoY to 7.38Mt. Of the total, 5.88Mt of cement and clinker were sold in domestic market, up 4.7 per cent YoY while 1.5Mt were exported, down 42.5 per cent.

The corporation produced 5.24Mt of clinker and 5.59Mt of cement between January and April, rising 4.6 per cent and five per cent YoY respectively, including 91,600t of clinker and 105,100t of cement in April.

As of April, Vicem had 1.56Mt of cement and clinker inventory, including 1.27Mt of clinker, equivalent to 25 days of production.

Vicem targets to produce 1.59Mt of clinker and 1.94Mt of cement in May. It also aims to sell 2.19Mt of cement and clinker this month.

Last year, Vicem’s clinker production edged up 0.7 per cent YoY to 16.5Mt, while its cement output rose 10.3 per cent to 18.46Mt.