The domestic cement selling price increased from 60,000 VND to 80,000 VND per tonne at the end of June 2022. (Photo kinhtedothi.vn) Many cement companies with popular brands have programmes tostimulate consumption in the domestic market, including discountprogrammes.
In addition, from January 1, 2023, the export tariff for clinkerproducts will be increased by between 5% and 10% to limit exports. Thisfactor also forces domestic manufacturers to find ways to reduce selling pricesand support customers to increase domestic clinker consumption.
The Department of Building Materials reported that thedomestic cement selling price increased from 60,000 VND to 80,000 VND per tonneat the end of June 2022 due to the high cost of coal.
According to the Vietnam National Cement Association, theproduction cost of cement skyrocketed, but the export price of cement productsdid not increase, with cement exporters facing fierce competition.
In the third quarter of 2022, domestic cement consumptiontended to increase, especially in the southern market. Cement prices keepstable, and they could reduce slightly.
The association said a series of expressway projects built in the2022-2025 period are expected to be leverage to partially support the cementindustry in reducing pressure on consuming cement products.
Forecasting the domestic cement market in the last months of 2022,experts say there is a positive signal of a significant increase in domesticcement demand, together with the Government's requirement for strongdisbursement for many public projects.
The domestic cement consumption in February fell to the lowestvolume of 3.5 million tonnes. According to the association, construction andbuilding material trading activities in that month were reduced due to theLunar New Year festival.
However, in March, the domestic cement consumption volume was 200 %higher than in February because construction projects resumed operation afterthe Lunar New Year holiday.
However, the cement selling volume decreased gradually in thesecond quarter because the projects imported enough input material.
In addition, in the post-COVID-19 period, civil constructiondecreased because the domestic economy and the people faced many difficulties.
In the first seven months of 2022, the total cement consumptionwas estimated at 55 million tonnes, down 17% compared to the same period in2021. Of which, the domestic consumption was 36.85 million tonnes, down 3%.
The cement exports in the first seven months were only 18.15million tonnes, down 30% per year, according to the Department of BuildingMaterials.
Clinker exports peaked in January and February, and fellsharply in the following months. It reached 25,000 tonnes of clinker exports inJune. The total clinker exports were only 82% of the export volume in the sameperiod in 2021.
Meanwhile, cement exports declined in most of Vietnam's majorexport markets from March, including Bangladesh, Taiwan, Malaysia, thePhilippines and mainland China. Significantly, the two largest markets, Chinaand the Philippines, suffered a substantial decline.
In China, the zero-covid policy and the gloomy real estate marketcaused cement consumption to drop sharply, leading to lower cement imports fromVietnam.
The cement export from Vietnam to the Philippines was alsoaffected by difficult shipping and high freight.
In 2022, cement supply will remain high at about 108 milliontonnes, while domestic consumption is expected at about 65 million tonnes.Therefore, export continues to be an important domestic cement industryconsumption channel./.
VNA
