China: China produced 1.1Bt in the first half of 2013, a year-on-year increase of 9.7%, according to the latest statistics released by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). The cement inventory of the country's major cement producers increased by 0.3% year-on-year to 27.76Mt. Profit for the cement industry remained flat with a 1% increase year-on-year to US$2.49bn.

Meanwhile the government is considering a detailed plan to eliminate outdated industrial production capacity, according to the China Securities Journal. The plan is expected to eliminate outdated capacity in the cement, steel, electrolytic aluminum, plate glass and shipbuilding sectors.

Zhu Hongren, chief engineer of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), confirmed that MIIT and the NDRC are currently working on the plan. The plan will boost the sectors' utilisation of existing capacity by setting industry access standards and eliminating outdated capacity. To ease overcapacity in affected industries, MIIT ordered in late July 2013 around 1400 companies in 19 sectors to eliminate outdated production capacity by September 2013 and eliminate excess capacity by the end of 2013.