Total cement demand in Vietnam fell to 5.828Mt in December 2018, down by one per cent YoY, but up three per cent when compared with November 2018, according to the latest data by the Vietnam National Cement Association (VNCA).

Of this total, VICEM Group companies accounted for 1.96Mt with an additional 1.618Mt sold by VICEM’s joint ventures, representing YoY changes in sales volumes of -4 and +3 per cent, respectively. Other cement producers sold 2.25Mt in December 2018, resulting in stable sales YoY.

Total exports from Vietnam reached 2.614Mt in December 2018, down 10 per cent YoY and six per cent MoM. Cement exports doubled to 892,055t YoY, but clinker exports fell 30 per cent to 1.722Mt YoY. Most cement exports were supplied to customers in the Philippines with smaller but significant quantities delivered to China, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and Laos. China was the largest country in terms of clinker exports, importing over 0.9Mt, followed by Bangladesh (~0.65Mt). Smaller volumes where exported to the Philippines, Taiwan, Papua New Guinea and Malaysia.

In terms of the full-year 2018, VNCA expects the domestic industry to sell 59.098Mt of cement, including 19.77Mt by VICEM group companies and a further 17.259Mt by its joint ventures. Other cement producers are predicted to sell 22.07Mt.