Displaying items by tag: GCW45
Vietnam reports 9.57Mt sales in Q1
13 April 2012Vietnam: Vietnam's cement sales came to 9.57Mt in the first quarter of 2012, according to the Ministry of Construction. This fulfilled 17.4% of the whole-year plan due to the implementation of several projects in March 2012. Production was 9.98Mt, meeting 18.1% of the full-year target. Production in March 2012 was 4.85Mt, representing nearly half of the quarter's total.
Vietnam spent US$90.5m on imports in the first quarter of 2012, making up 20.7% of the whole-year plan, including US$30.9m in March 2012. The country's exports were US$43.3m, fulfilling 19.2% of the full-year target, including US$10.4m in March 2012.
National consumption is forecast to reach between 55Mt and 56.5Mt in 2012, rising by 11% and 12% from 2011 respectively. Yet the country's cement output is forecast to rise to 73Mt in 2012 due to the additional operation of eight new cement plants with combined production capacity of 6.9Mt. In 2011 Vietnam produced and sold 49.3Mt. The country also imported 1.15Mt and exported 5.5Mt of cement and clinker during the period, the ministry noted.
New producer says directive 'makes no sense'
12 April 2012South Africa: An order by South African competition authorities to delay cement industry statistics by three months will negatively affect perceptions of economic activity in the country, according to industry newcomer Sephaku Cement.
The CEO of Sephaku Pieter Fourie said that the directive by the South African Competition Commission to the Cement and Concrete Institute that it delay the publication of its quarterly national cement sales figures by three months made 'no sense'. The institute represents the four major cement producers in South Africa: Pretoria Portland Cement, AfriSam, Lafarge and NPC-Cimpor.
Sephaku, a Nigerian-backed newcomer, is building an integrated cement production facility in the Limpopo province, where it intends to produce cement from the fourth quarter of 2013. It says that cement sales form a large component of construction activity in South Africa and are a leading economic indicator. Sephaku believe that the change in reporting will affect related economic predictions.
Stephan Olivier, CEO of AfriSam, commented that the change in industry reporting was a bid to make it difficult to use the data for anti-competitive behaviour. Simon Roberts, chief economist and manager of the commission's policy and research division, said that companies had previously used the data provided by the institute to 'monitor' their cartel agreement.
Projects by Nigerian-backed Sephaku and a new Chinese-backed empowerment entity, Conticem, will boost South Africa's capacity by nearly 5Mt/yr. Both Sephaku and AfriSam anticipate a better industry outlook in 2012 but uncertainty remains over the government's ability to accelerate its infrastructure plans.