Vietnam's Ministry of Construction expects a four per cent YoY rise in cement and clinker sales in 2015 to 74Mt, comprising 53Mt of domestic sales and exports of 20Mt.

Latest figures released by the Vietnam National Cement Association (VNCA) show that in the four months leading up to May domestic cement sales jumped three per cent YoY to 15.89Mt.

For the month of April alone the VNCA statistics indicate that sales of cement surged 113 per cent YoY to 5.45Mt, but were down 28 per cent YoY.

During the four-month period actual production was estimated at 30.22Mt— far outpacing sales resulting in higher inventory stockpiles, the VNCA reports show. The VNCA reported the overproduction resulted from an unanticipated slowdown in domestic construction during and following the TET Lunar New Year holiday.

However, the outlook for the remainder of the year is positive with the country experiencing an upturn in residential and commercial construction, according to Le Van Toi, head of the Ministry of Construction’s Building Material Department.

Statistics from the Ministry of Construction seem to support Mr Toi’s optimism as they show that for the January-April period, new residential construction in the two big markets of Ha Noi and HCM City was up over three-fold versus the comparative period of last year.