Displaying items by tag: Ministry of Construction
Vietnamese ministries ordered to revise cement industry strategy
30 September 2016Vietnam: Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung has asked the ministries of industry and construction to revise the zoning plan for mineral mining for cement production and the cement industry development strategy to meet actual demand. The Ministry of Construction has said that the zoning plan to 2020, which was originally approved in 2010, needs changing following recent geological surveys, according to the Vietnam News Agency. The ministry is also compiling a cement industry development strategy for the 2017 - 2035 period with a vision towards 2025.
The construction ministry will collaborate with provinces and cities to look into the investment and exploitation of minerals for cement production, supply and demand for clinker and cement as well as using heat at cement plants for electricity generation. The country has 70 operational cement production lines with a production capacity of 82Mt/yr but consumption is 72Mt/yr. The government has approved shutting down 14 cement plants with a daily capacity of less than 2500t of clinker each, equivalent to 910,000t/yr, from the strategy since 2011.
Vietnam government to sell stake in cement giant
05 July 2016Vietnam: The Ministry of Construction is planning to sell its stake in Vicem through an initial public offering in the fourth quarter of 2016. The cement producer has said previously that the state is planning to reduce its holding to 51%. Investors from Indonesia and Thailand have expressed interest in acquiring stakes in Vicem, according to the Dau Tu newspaper.
Vicem, previously known as the Vietnam Cement Industry Corporation, has stakes in 31 companies, mostly cement producers and distributors. Its gross profit reportedly doubled last year to US$105.2m in 2015. It currently controls 34% of the market in Vietnam.
Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service leads discussion on cement pricing and mandatory certification
26 May 2016Russia: The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has held a meeting to discuss cement pricing and mandatory certification. Representatives of FAS, cement producers, industry associations and government authorities - including the Ministry of Economic Development, the Federal Accreditation Service, the Federal Agency on Technical Regulation and Metrology, the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Industry and Trade - took part in the event on 17 May 2016.
Attendees reported that the pricing of bulk cement to industrial customers had increased slightly due to seasonal demand. FAS had received a growing number of complaints about rising prices from purchasers of bagged cement. To counter this, FAS has proposed using points of sale for bagged cement with the intention to remove intermediaries from the supply chain and cut costs.
On mandatory cement certification the Federal Agency on Technical Regulation and Metrology and the Ministry of Economic Development reported that over 50 cement plants in Russia and several Belarusian cement producers have certified their products. However, some cement importers have experienced difficulties with certification. FAS agreed to coordinate the forwarding of issues importers and other producers have experienced to the supervising body. It will also draft proposals on amendments to the certification. Mandatory cement certification came into force on 7 March 2016 due to No. 930 Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation.
Vietnam: LafargeHolcim is considering leaving Vietnam due to oversupply of cement in the local market, according to Nguyen Cong Bao, general director of Holcim Vietnam. The company met with the Ministry of Construction to notify it of its forthcoming business plans in Vietnam. Bao’s statement was reported by the Dau Tu newspaper.
The cement producer has five cement plants with a production capacity of 6Mt/yr, making it the largest manufacturer in the country. It also operates eight ready-mixed concrete plants. The Vietnam Cement Industry Corporation (Vicem), the country’s leading cement producer, holds a 35% stake in Holcim Vietnam. LafargeHolcim retains the brands of Lafarge and Holcim’s products including Lavilla (Lafarge) and Holcim Power-S. Holcim Vietnam holds 26% of the domestic market and Lafarge Vietnam holds 12% of the market.
Vietnam: Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has agreed to add the Thaicement Ha Tien plant in Kien Giang to a portfolio of projects to be invested in the 2011-2020 period with a vision to 2030. The cement plant will have a production capacity of 4.5Mt/yr.
Nguyen has assigned the Ministry of Construction and People’s Committee of Kien Giang province to conduct a survey and exploration of limestone and clay deposits and present it to the National Mineral Reserves Councils for approval before granting an investment license. He also requested the relevant agencies to assess the financial capacity of the investor, which must be able to provide at least 20% of the project’s total investment under current regulations.
The Ministry of Construction has forecast that Vietnam's sales of cement and clinker will rise by 4 - 7% year-on-year to up to 77Mt in 2016 despite economic problems.
Vietnam: Total clinker and cement sales rose by 9.8% year-on-year to 15.71Mt in the first quarter of 2016, the Building Material Department under the Ministry of Construction has said. The sales figure represents 20.7% of the country’s target for 2016.
In March 2016, the country’s cement sales rose by 17% year-on-year to 6.27Mt, supported by growing construction projects and the recovery of the real estate market. Clinker and cement exports grew by 115% year-on-year to 1.35Mt March 2015. Total export volumes for the first quarter of 2016 rose by 2% to 3.5Mt.
The Ministry of Construction forecasts that Vietnam's sales of cement and clinker will rise 4 - 7% on year to between 75 – 77 Mt in 2016 despite economic concerns. The country now has 76 cement production lines with a combined production capacity of 82Mt/yr.
Vietnamese government agrees extra cement production capacity
18 February 2015Vietnam: The Government of Vietnam has approved the Ministry of Construction's proposal to increase the capacity of two cement plants in Ha Nam and Nghe An Provinces.
The Thanh Liem Cement plant in Ha Nam Province's Bong Lang Commune will be upgraded with an additional 2.3Mt/yr capacity production line, which is expected to open in 2018. Currently, the plant has just one production line with 450,000t/yr of cement production capacity. Nguyen Quang Bay, director of the Thanh Liem Cement plant, said that it was necessary to increase the capacity of the plant in order to fully exploit the limestone resources in the province.
The Song Lam Cement plant, which is currently under construction in Nghe An Province's Bai Son Commune, will now have 4Mt/yr of cement production capacity when complete. Construction on the plant began in February 2015 with investment capital of US$494m. Three production lines will be built by 2020. The first two are scheduled to be put into operation in 2017.
Prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung asked the Construction Ministry to re-examine cement plant projects in the 2011 - 2020 period and forecast market demand, then report it to the Government later in 2015. Cement consumption reached 5.87Mt in January 2015, an increase of 30% compared to January 2014, according to the Construction Ministry's Building Material Department. Domestic cement production currently meets demand, according to the department.
The Vietnam Cement Association predicts that cement exports in 2015 could earn as much as US$1bn via the export of 20 - 21Mt of cement and clinker, a 15% increase in value year-on-year.
Vietnam: Semen Indonesia plans to invest up to US$300m towards building a cement plant in Vietnam in the next five years as part of its business expansion in Southeast Asia. The Indonesian state-run cement producer intends for its subsidiary Thang Long Cement to build a 1.5Mt/yr cement plant, according to General Director Dwi Soetjipto. Construction is scheduled to start in early 2015 with a operation due to start in 2018.
Thang Long Cement currently holds a cement production capacity of 2.5Mt/yr and the new plant is intended to meet the increasing demand for cement in Vietnam and other Asian countries, including Singapore, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. Semen Indonesia holds a 70% stake in Thang Long Cement. It has set a target of becoming one of the leading cement producers in Southeast Asia.
Vietnam will not face a shortage of cement in either the short or long term as the supply is estimated at 75 - 76Mt/yr in 2015 while demand in 2014 is estimated at 65 – 67Mt/yr, according to the Ministry of Construction. The local cement industry had around 2.59Mt of unsold products, mainly clinker, at the end of April 2014.
Vietnam cement sales rise by 15% to 7.55Mt in Q1
03 April 2013Vietnam: Companies in Vietnam sold 7.55Mt of cement in the first quarter of 2013, a 15% rise year-on-year compared to 2013 according to the Ministry of Construction. This occurred despite a year-on-year fall of 30% to 2Mt in March 2013. The country's cement production increased by 15% year-on-year to 8.14Mt, according to local media.
Due to the increase in cement sales between January and March 2013, the country's cement inventory dropped by 45% year-on-year to 40,000t. Local cement makers currently have huge inventories and domestic demand remains low due to a frozen real estate market. High production costs, high lending interest rates and rising input costs have also put a burden on local cement producers, the ministry noted.
The ministry predicts that the country's cement sales will rise by 5 - 8% year-on-year to 48 – 49Mt in 2013, equal to total sales of 2011. In 2012, Vietnam's cement sales stood at 53.6Mt, of which 45.5Mt was sold in the domestic market, down 7.1% on-year, while 8.1Mt of cement and clinker was exported, up 30%.