Firms under the Ministry of Construction in August made a turnover of 11.81 trillion VND (557 million USD), bringing the total for the first eight months to nearly 94.84 trillion V ND (4.47 billion USD), down 7.2 per cent year-on-year.

Of this total, the turnover of industrial and construction materials in the first eight months was 38.895 trillion VND, up by 3.7 percent, data from the ministry showed.

Cement production in January-August reached 33.32 million tonnes, equal to 59.5 percent of the annual target.

The industry sold roughly 30.57 million tonnes of cement domestically and exported roughly 8.79 million tonnes in the first eight months, equal to 63 percent of its annual target.

During this period, the turnover from consulting services for the construction industry also fell by 6.6 percent to 832 billion VND.

Earnings from other fields including housing and infrastructure also dropped 1.1 percent to 2.58 trillion VND.

The industry's import value in August was 34 million USD, making a total of 135 million USD for the same period. The imports were mainly machinery and equipment.

The industry earned an export value of 114 million USD in eight months, equal to 67.8 percent of its annual target.

The ministry added that it will keep a close watch on the real estate and construction material markets and suggest more effective measures on how to improve management and boost growth to the state budget.

Supervising the publishing of an index of construction prices in cities and provinces nationwide will also be undertaken to create a more competitive and transparent housing market, it said.-VNA