The Price Management Department under the Ministry of Finance has predicted the domestic price of cement will likely see a slight increase in October.

The forecast was made based on the real production and consumption figures for cement businesses over the last nine months and the expected prices registered by firms.

In September, the total volume of cement sold domestically and internationally reached 4.84 million tonnes, equivalent to 95.3 percent of August sales and 95.8 percent of sales during the same period last year.

About 3.99 million tonnes were sold on the domestic market in September, a month-on-month decline of 7.8 percent, mainly due to the impact of storms. This was the first month during which cement consumption declined after five consecutive months of a consumption volume of 5 million tonnes and more.

Meanwhile, an estimated 850,000t were shipped abroad in September, up by 13 percent compared to August.

During the first nine months of this year, a total of 47.16 million tonnes of cement were sold on domestic and international markets, up by 6 percent compared to the same period last year. Of the figure, domestic sales were 36.98 million tonnes, up 8 percent year on year, and exports reached 10.18 million tonnes, the same as the figure for the same period last year.

In February, the retail price for cement on the domestic market decreased by 20,000 VND (0.94 USD) per tonne compared to January. However, in April prices increased by 30,000-60,000 VND per tonne due to logistics companies raising their freight rates.

At present, the retail price for cement stands at approximately 1.05-1.5 million VND per tonne in the northern and central regions, and around 1.46 –1.8 million VND per tonne in the southern region. The export price of cement is approximately 55.2 USD per tonne.-VNA