The cement price is expected to increase slightly in the second quarter of the year due to rising demand, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

Do Van Chien, director of the MoIT’s Vietnam Trade and Information Centre, said the cement price would increase by 4-5 percent this quarter.

Demand for cement is expected to reach about 11 million tonnes this quarter, an increase of more than 12 percent compared with the first quarter.

Experts said rising demand for cement typically occurred at this time of year when the construction season kicked off.

However, the price is likely to remain stable because of oversupply.

“It is difficult for enterprises to increase prices because of the surplus,” Chien said.

As a result of new cement production lines that are due to become operational this quarter, output is expected to rise 8.7 percent to 12.5 million tonnes.

However, due to lack of regulation, a cement surplus in the north and a shortage in the south are expected this year, Chien said.

The PCB30 cement price currently stands at about 897,000 VND – 930,000 VND (42-48 USD) per tonne while that of PCB40 is about 920,000 VND – PCB30, 1.4 million VND (48-73 USD) per tonne.

According to the Prices Control Department, in the first three months of this year, the country’s cement production reached about 10 million tonnes, of which 3.4 million tonnes alone came from the Vietnam Cement Industry Corporation.

In the same period, the cement price surged twice in January and February by 5 percent and 4 percent, respectively, due to rising input costs.

This year, total cement output is estimated to be 55 million tonnes, while consumption is just 50 million tonnes.

Last year, cement output reached 47.7 million tonnes, an increase of 19.2 percent over 2008./.