Displaying items by tag: Vietnam

Vietnam: Thailand-based Siam City Cement has launched construction of Mill 2 of its 1.3Mt/yr Thi Vai grinding plant in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province. Việt Nam News has reported that the company plans to invest US$35m in the project.

The Thi Vai grinding plant cost US$53m when built in 2003.

Vietnam: The Ministry of Construction has appointed Bui Xuan Dung as the chair of the Vietnam Cement Corporation (VICEM).

Bui Xuan Dung trained as a civil engineer and holds a master’s degree in business administration. He worked for the Hanoi Construction Corporation from 1995 to 2021 becoming its General Director in 2015. Since 2021 he has held the post of Director of the Housing and Real Estate Market Management Department at the Ministry of Construction.

VICEM is a state-owned cement producer controlled by the Ministry of Construction. It operates 16 production lines at 10 plants and holds around 35% of the country’s market share in the cement sector.

Japan: Taiheiyo Cement’s sales in the first half of its financial year to 30 September 2022 rose by 10.6% year-on-year to US$2.57bn from US$2.32bn in the same period in 2021. Its reported an operating loss of US$2.14m compared to a profit of US$176m previously. Its domestic and export sales volumes of cement fell by 0.5% to 6.56Mt and 27% to 1.41Mt respectively.

By region the group said that, although demand was consistent for its business in the western US, sales volumes fell due to poor weather. In China sales volumes dropped to the effects of the country’s zero coronavirus policy upon the market. Sales decreased in Vietnam, partly due anti-dumping duties imposed by the Philippines upon imports.

Vietnam: Vietnam Cement Industry Corporation (Vicem) sold 18.5Mt of cement during the first nine months of 2022, up by 6.5% year-on-year from the same period in 2021. The producer's cement and clinker sales volumes totaled 20.9Mt during the period, 71% of its full-year 2022 target.

Vicem recorded a pretax profit of US$60.4m, up by 8.4%. Vicem aims to achieve a US$82.5m pretax profit and increase its revenues by 10% to US$1.49bn.

Vietnam: During the first ten months of 2022, Vietnam National Cement Association (VNCA) members exported 25.9Mt of cement and clinker, with a total value of US$1.16bn. Volumes dropped by 30% year-on-year from 37Mt, while the value of exports dropped by 20% from US$1.43bn.

In 2021 Vietnam exported 43.5Mt of cement and clinker, worth US$1.78bn, up by 13% year-on-year in volume and by 24% in value.

Philippines: The Tariff Commission has reversed a decision recommending that the government implement anti-dumping duties on imports of cement from Vietnam. Việt Nam News has reported that the commission withdrew the recommendation after the Philippine government's Department of Trade and Industry ruled that imports from Vietnam do not have a harmful impact on the domestic cement industry.

Philippines: The Tariff Commission (TC) has ordered that new duties be applied to imported Vietnamese cement for a five-year period up to 2027. The Department of Trade and Industry concluded a dumping investigation into Vietnamese cement exports to the Philippines in mid-October 2022, according to the Manila Bulletin newspaper. It found that imports of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and blended cement from Vietnam were not injurious to the domestic cement sector at present. However, it also found the threat of material injury to be 'imminent.' This is due to Vietnam's 'substantial' cement overcapacity, which may enable it to rapidly increase its exports. The conclusion provided the basis for the TC's latest order.

Any new duty will replace provisional 2.7 - 32% duties introduced in December 2021. Previously, strong competition reportedly prevented the measures from causing price rises. Commentators now predict that the TC's proposed measures will result in a rise in prices.

Cement imports are back on the agenda this week in the Philippines with the news that the Tariff Commission has backed repealing the duties currently being implemented. If it’s anything like what happened last time, back in 2019, the commission’s opinion will once again be passed back to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) for the final decision. The safeguard measure the commission wants to cut covers Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) and Blended Cement. It summarised the situation as follows, “There is no existence of an imminent threat of serious injury and significant overall impairment to the position of the domestic cement industry in the near future.”

The commission reviewed the sector between 2019 and 2021 and concluded that the domestic cement industry maintained its market position, increased its mill capacities, stabilised its manufacturing costs and improved its profitability. It found that local producers recovered their profits in 2021, following the coronavirus pandemic. It also noted that imports continued to rise whilst the safeguard measure was in force. Volumes of imported OPC and blended cements increased at levels above 10% year-on-year in both the 2019 – 2020 and 2020 – 2021 periods. They also rose by 7% year-on-year to 3.51Mt in the first half of 2022 compared to the half-year average from 2019 - 2021. In the commission’s view, relaxing the duties on imported cement would slow price rises for both locally produced and imported cement leading to an overall national economic benefit.

Local cement producers in the Philippines are likely to be unhappy with the Tariff Commission’s recommendation. The Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (CEMAP) spent the summer of 2022 lobbying for the safeguard measure to be extended past October 2022. It too pointed out that imports of cement had continued to grow even whilst the increased duties had been levied from 2019. A few days before the commission’s decision was published, APO Cement said that it had temporarily suspended operations at its Davao terminal. The subsidiary of Cemex Philippines blamed imports of cement, particularly from Vietnam, for the decision.

Yet, the local sector has been active over the last year with a number of capacity upgrades being launched or underway. In January 2022 the government gave tax breaks to San Miguel Equity Investments for the construction of a 2Mt/yr cement plant in Mindanao. In February 2022 San Miguel subsidiary Southern Concrete Industries said it was doubling the capacity of an upgrade to its grinding plant at Davao del Sur, with initial commissioning planned in mid-2022. Meanwhile, Solid Cement’s upgrade of a new production line at its integrated plant in Antipolo, Rizal, has been ongoing since it officially started in 2019. The current commissioning date for the subsidiary of Cemex is now expected in early 2024. In August 2022 Taiheiyo Cement Philippines held a groundbreaking ceremony for the start of construction of a new production line at its integrated San Fernando plant in Cebu. The US$85m project is due to be commissioned in mid-2024. Finally, importer Philcement revealed in late September 2022 that it had taken out a US$1.73m loan for an expansion and upgrades to its Mariveles cement terminal in Bataan.

Holcim Philippines’ president and chief executive officer Horia Adrain told local press in July 2022 that the cement sector was continuing to recover in 2022, following the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, but that the pace would be slower. And so it proved, with reduced revenue, earnings and profits reported by Holcim for the first half of 2022. Costs rose due to higher fuel and energy prices like elsewhere in the world but a construction ban in connection with the presidential election in May 2022 didn’t help either. Both CRH and Cemex Philippines reported a similar situation in their financial results. However, Eagle Cement did manage to raise its revenue in the same period.

The Tariff Commission has been explicit with its opinion about the impact of imports upon the local cement sector. Investment by the local producers has been forthcoming with a number of new plants and upgrades on the way. Finally, despite the market recovering since 2020, there has been less growth in the first half of 2022 due to global energy prices and the country’s elections. This last point has handed a gift to the cement producers as any further reductions in growth can be blamed on imports, whether it is connected or not. One thing is certain, if or when the safeguard measures are lifted, then the regular calls to restrict imports will resume just like they did prior to 2019.

Vietnam: The Vietnam National Cement Association (VNCA) recorded combined national cement and clinker exports of 24.8Mt in the first nine months of 2022, down by 26% year-on-year from the same period in 2021. This corresponded to US$1.1bn in value, down by 14% year-on-year. Việt Nam News has reported that the VNCA expects to achieve total cement and clinker production of 107Mt, against a national capacity of 130Mt/yr. Domestic demand was 65Mt.

Earlier in 2022, Long Son Cement commissioned a new 2.5Mt/yr integrated cement plant, raising national overcapacity to 200% from 196%.

Philippines: Cemex Holdings Philippines subsidiary APO Cement has suspended operations at its 25,000 bag/day Davao cement terminal. The Philippines Star newspaper has reported that the cement producer and importer cited low sales volumes, along with high operating costs, as the cause of its decision. It added that an 'influx' of Vietnamese cement imports had precipitated the situation. Cemex's Philippines supply chain vice president Edwin Hufemia said that the suspension will allow the company to keep its focus on its cement plant and other facilities in the Philippines.

Hufemia said “We remain committed to supporting the country’s development programme and the administration’s Build, Better, More infrastructure programme, and we assure the public that there will be no disruption to the supply and delivery of our cement."