Displaying items by tag: Vietnam
Vicem cement output rises 4.7% in year to date
20 August 2014Vietnam: State-owned Vietnam Cement Industry Corporation (Vicem) produced 10.2Mt of cement in the first seven months of 2014, a 4.7% increase compared to the same period of 2013. Vicem's clinker output, however, dipped by 1% year-on-year to 9.43Mt. In July 2014, Vicem's cement output rose by 7.8% year-on-year to 1.54Mt, while clinker output rose to 1.47Mt, a 8.1% rise.
In the first seven months of 2014, Vicem's total clinker and cement sales rose by 7% year-on-year to 12.7Mt, including 1.88Mt in July 2014, a 3.9% fall year-on-year. Of the total, 10.6Mt of cement and clinker were sold in Vietnam, down by 7.7% year-on-year. 2.12Mt were exported, an 86% rise year-on-year.
Vissai Ninh Binh Group to export 1.5Mt of clinker to Réunion
11 August 2014Vietnam: Vissai Ninh Binh Group has signed a contract with a French partner to export 1.5Mt of clinker to Ciment de Bourbon to serve to expressway road project on the French island of Réunion. This is the biggest contract that Vietnamese cement producers have secured to date, said Vissai Ninh Binh Group's deputy director Nguyen Tien Dat.
The clinker will be shipped at a price of US$42/t under the contract that will be effective for five years, the deputy director said. He noted that the firm has carefully considered the prices to avoid the negative impact driven by the fluctuations in prices of transportation.
Vietnam: The Vietnamese Ministry of Health has proposed that the government should add asbestos, which is widely used to produce roofing sheets in Vietnam, to the list of toxic chemicals subject to a full ban. There are 36 producers of asbestos cement (AC) roofing sheets in Vietnam, with an annual production capacity of 100Mm2 of roofing sheets.
Vietnam has used asbestos since the 1960s and the country is among the world's 10 largest users of asbestos, consuming and importing some 60,000t/yr. More than 90% is used to manufacture AC roofing sheets, while the rest is for the production of car brakes and thermal insulation.
Deputy health minister Nguyen Thanh Long has said that the World Health Organisation (WHO) and international cancer research agencies have warned that all types of asbestos can cause lung, larynx and ovarian cancer, as well as mesothelioma and asbestosis. Asbestosis, a disease of the lungs caused by inhaling asbestos fibres, has been recognised in Vietnam as an occupational disease eligible for compensation since 1976. Ministry research has shown that people living near an area where asbestos is used, or those living under a roof made from asbestos, can also be affected.
The Research Institute of Technology for Machinery under the Ministry of Industry and Trade have developed a non-asbestos roofing sheet production line. Polyvinyl alcohol synthetic fibre (PVA) is used to replace the asbestos, while pulp additives increase stickiness. Prices of non-asbestos roofing sheets are 10 - 15% higher than those made from asbestos.
Vietnam: Vietnam produced 29.5Mt/yr of cement in the first half of 2014, a year-on-year rise of 7%, according to the General Statistics Office. Notably in June 2014 cement production rose by 19% to 5.4Mt. In 2013, Vietnam's cement output hit 56.8Mt/yr.
Vietnam: The Asean Federation of Cement Manufacturers (AFCM) will hold its 24th Technical Symposium & Exhibition in Hanoi, Vietnam in 21-24 April 2015. The Vietnam National Cement Association (VNCA) will be event the host and organiser. The theme for the symposium is 'Upgrading technology for a sustainable development.'
Vietnam: Semen Indonesia plans to invest up to US$300m towards building a cement plant in Vietnam in the next five years as part of its business expansion in Southeast Asia. The Indonesian state-run cement producer intends for its subsidiary Thang Long Cement to build a 1.5Mt/yr cement plant, according to General Director Dwi Soetjipto. Construction is scheduled to start in early 2015 with a operation due to start in 2018.
Thang Long Cement currently holds a cement production capacity of 2.5Mt/yr and the new plant is intended to meet the increasing demand for cement in Vietnam and other Asian countries, including Singapore, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. Semen Indonesia holds a 70% stake in Thang Long Cement. It has set a target of becoming one of the leading cement producers in Southeast Asia.
Vietnam will not face a shortage of cement in either the short or long term as the supply is estimated at 75 - 76Mt/yr in 2015 while demand in 2014 is estimated at 65 – 67Mt/yr, according to the Ministry of Construction. The local cement industry had around 2.59Mt of unsold products, mainly clinker, at the end of April 2014.
Semen Indonesia expands operations
27 May 2014Asia: PT Semen Indonesia's subsidiary PT Semen Padang has commenced construction of its US$279.5m Indarung VI cement plant in Padang, West Sumatra on 26 May 2014. The new plant, which has an annual cement production capacity of 3Mt/yr, is expected to commence operations in the second half of 2016.
"We are developing the Indarung VI factory as the demand for cement keeps increasing across Sumatra and western parts of Java," said Dwi Soetjipto, CEO of PT Semen Indonesia. With the operation of the new plant, Semen Padang's total cement production capacity is expected to increase to 10.5Mt/yr, up from 7.5Mt/yr.
Brisk development of property, toll roads, and other infrastructure projects has pushed up demand for cement in East Java. "Demand for cement in the country has increased. All cement production is absorbed by the market for government and private properties and infrastructure projects," Bambang Djoko claimed. The commercial director of PT Semen Gresik Aunur Rosyid said that cement sales in West Java reached 2.83Mt in the first four months of 2014, an increase of 9.8% from 2.56Mt in 2013. "The growth exceeded the 3.7% growth of cement sales nationally in the same year," said Rosyid.
Elsewhere, PT Semen Indonesia has announced that it may acquire a cement plant in Bangladesh as part of its efforts to expand business. Soetjipto stated that the Bangladeshi cement plant has a production capacity of 0.60 – 1Mt/yr.
"We are now in the process of approaching the management of the plant for further negotiations. Hopefully, it can be realised in the coming six months," Soetjipto said. He was reluctant to reveal financial details, saying that the acquisition value was less than that made for Thang Long Cement in Vietnam. In November 2012 Semen Indonesia acquired 70% of Thang Long Cement (worth US$157m) from Geleximco.
Soetjipto also disclosed that Thang Long Cement will build a new plant in Rembang, Central Java in June 2014. "We will begin the construction of a new plant in Rembang in mid-June 2014," he remarked. He explained that with the development of new factories in Padang and Rembang and upgrades to the existing plants, Semen Indonesia will have a combined production capacity of 40.8Mt/yr by 2017.
PT Semen Indonesia hopes to boost its sales in Vietnam by expanding the production capacity of its Vietnamese subsidiary Thang Long Cement. " Thang Long Cement's market share in Vietnam is relatively small at around 2.3Mt/yr, but its market potential is huge," said Thang Long Cement executive Bambang Djoko.
Vietnam: The Vietnamese government will no longer provide guarantees to foreign loans for cement projects, as domestic supply has surpassed real demand, according to Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.
Local cement producers have been facing huge difficulties, including huge losses and high inventory due to the low domestic demand. While domestic demand has remained modest, the annual cement output continues to increase, reaching 70Mt in 2013. Cement sales remained low at 61Mt. Domestic cement production capacity is forecast to rise to 77Mt/yr due to the commissioning of five new cement plants with a combined production capacity of 7Mt/yr.
The Vietnamese government earlier guaranteed foreign loans worth US$1.36bn for 16 state-owned cement companies, including Dong Banh, Thai Nguyen, Tam Diep and Hoang Mai companies. According to an audit report in 2012 from the Ministry of Finance on cement projects using loans with the government acting as underwriter, 10 cement projects resulted in losses and some of them could not repay their loans.
Vietnam: Larger cement producers in Vietnam have failed to build government mandated waste heat recovery (WHR) systems. Under Vietnam's cement industry development plan until 2020 with a vision towards 2030, all cement plants with a clinker production capacity of 2500t/day or above have to implement a WHR system to save at least 20% of their electricity consumption by 2015. However, local media has reported that only Holcim and Ha Tien 2 have invested in the technology. Other cement producers have been prevented from investing in their plants by high debt and poor local demand for cement.
Nguyen Quang Cung, chairman of the Vietnam Cement Association admitted to the delayed investment in the WHR systems. "However, there won't be an extension. The cement makers will be forced to implement this on time," said Quang Cung.
Nguyen Cong Minh Bao, director of Sustainable Development of Holcim Vietnam, which invested US$18m in a WHR system in 2012, said that Vietnam should not extend the deadline. According to Bao 60% of Chinese firms apply the system in China and WHR is an intrinsic component of any new project.
Holcim Vietnam's WHR system has an output capacity of 44MkWh/yr. It will be enough to serve the firm's Hon Chong Cement Factory for 88 days of operation, meaning Holcim Vietnam will save 9000t of coal and reduce 25,300t of CO2 per year.
Vietnam's cement sector is considered as one of the country's most energy-intensive industries. Under the third draft of the retail pricing scheme conducted by the state-run Electricity of Vietnam in 2013, steel and cement producers using power voltages of 110kV or higher during peak hour would pay 10% than the asking price for their normal power. Overall, the draft would dish out a power tariff hike of 2 - 16% to steel and cement producers.
Thach My cement plant starts operation in Vietnam
26 March 2014Vietnam: The Thach My cement plant in Quang Nam province has started operation after a period of delay, according to a statement by Xuan Thanh Investment and Development JSC. The plant had an investment of US$190m with a designed cement production capacity of 1.7Mt/yr in its first phase. It covers an area of 57.36 hectares.
The plant was identified as a key project in the province when construction started in July of 2010. Construction was later delayed due to a shortage of building materials. The plant will create jobs for 1000 labourers, with 800 of these from the local area.