Displaying items by tag: Vietnam

South Africa: The South African cement industry is calling on the International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) to probe a flood of imports into the country. South Africa, which has six cement producers and more than 30% over-capacity, has become a net importer of cement. Imports have increased by 139% since 2016, according to The Concrete Institute’s (ITC) managing director Brian Perrie.

Perrie said in an interview that TCI, representing AfriSam, Dangote Cement South Africa, Lafarge Industries South Africa, Natal Portland Cement and PPC were approaching ITAC to investigate whether the industry required protection from an 18-month surge in imports.

He said that imported cement was undercutting South African prices by as much as 45%, while local producers also had to meet the requirements of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), meet black empowerment and other social requirements and, at the same time, protect thousands of jobs in the domestic industry. Also, the recent carbon tax translated into a 2% increase in selling prices, putting the local industry at a further price disadvantage. “Trade remedy protection is required," said Perrie, pointing out that producers did not want a ‘ban’ on imports, rather some form of protection to ‘level the playing field.’

South Africa instituted anti-dumping duties of 17 – 70% against importers from Pakistan in 2015. Imports duly fell in 2016 but rose again in 2017 and 2018, mainly from Vietnam and China. Perrie said that 350,441t of cement arrived in the second quarter of 2019 alone, the most since the third quarter of 2015. Most came in through Durban (260,909t), an 85% increase on the first quarter.

Vietnam: Cement and clinker exports from Vietnam are well on track to meet the central target for 2019, with turnover of nearly US$750m generated in the first seven months, according to the General Department of Customs’ statistics.
During the period, 17.3Mt of cement and clinker were shipped overseas.

In the first half of 2019 the country exported 15.6Mt of cement and clinker, which generated revenues of US$667m. This represents a 1.3% rise in volume and 18% rise in value compared to the same period of 2018.

The Vietnam Cement Association attributed the seven-month’s performance to positive demand from the global market and the export prices of cement, which have increased by 15-17% year-on-year. The closure of China’s worst-polluting cement plants and forced campaign operation at many others has created a significant opportunity for Vietnamese firms to increase exports.

The ministry forecasts that overall demand for cement from Vietnam’s cement producers would be likely to increase marginally to 98-99Mt by the end of 2019, comprising 70Mt domestic sales and 28-29Mt in exports.

Vietnam: 20 factories in Quang Ninh, Thanh Hoa, Quang Nam and Thua Thien Hue provinces will be subject to a new carbon tax in a pilot project. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has started to put the programme into action following approval from Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, according to the Vietnam News Agency Bulletin. The pilot project will start in 2020 and run until the end of 2021.

The scheme will include 11 cement companies and nine power plants. Cement producers and traders will be charged US$0.09/t of clinker, equivalent to US1.35/t of CO₂. The tax will also increase electricity costs for cement producers. It is expected to increase the production cost at plants by 0.29%.

Nguyen Van Vu, head of Finance and Planning Department under Vietnam Administration of Forestry (VAF), said that the tariff was lower than the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility pledge to pay for emission reduction efforts in North Central Region of US$5/t of CO2. The provinces running the tariff are expected to generate around US$7.4m/yr. Most of this revenue will be accrued in Quang Ninh, followed by Thanh Hoa, Thua Thien Hue and Quang Nam.

Indonesia: Semen Indonesia’s revenue grew by 23% year-on-year to US$1.17bn in the first half of 2019 from US$0.95bn in the same period in 2018. Its net profit halved to US$34.3m from US468.8m. Its domestic sales volumes of cement fell by 7.17% to 7.78Mt in the first five months of 2019 from 10.54Mt in the same period in 2018. Exports rose by 7.42% to 1.38Mt from 1.28Mt. Both local sales and exports fell at its Thang Long Cement subsidiary in Vietnam. However, its acquisition of Holcim Philippines in February 2019 has boosted its overall sales by 17% to 15.2Mt.

Vietnam: Kien Giang province has granted an investment licence to Siam City Cement Vietnam for a limestone and clay mining project and a clinker kiln project in Kien Luong district. Both projects have a combined investment of around US$470m, according to the Viet Nam News newspaper. The subsidiary of Thailand’s Siam City Cement Group operates five plants in the country following its acquisition of Holcim Vietnam in 2017.

Vietnam: Vietnam Cement Industry Corporation’s (VICEM) cement production grew by 11% year-on-year to 12.8Mt in the first half of 2019. Its clinker production rose by 2% to 10.2Mt. It cement and clinker sales volumes increased by 3% to 14.7Mt, according to the Viet Nam News newspaper. The state-owned cement producer intends to produce and sell 27Mt of cement in 2019, up from 25Mt in 2018.

Vietnam: Xuan Khiem Group is seeking government approval to build a US$214m cement plant in Hoa Binh province. The Xuan Son plant will have a production capacity of 2.3Mt/yr and it is scheduled to be completed in 2020, according to the Viet Nam News newspaper. The People’s Committee of Hoa Binh province and Xuan Khiem Group signed a memorandum of understanding to build the plant in late 2018.

Vietnam: Vicem Hoang Mai plans to build a 3Mt/yr cement plant in Nghe An province with an investment of US$286m. The unit will be built in the province’s Hoang Mai 2 Industrial Zone, according to the Vietnam Economic News newspaper. The project was approved in principle by the Provincial People's Committee in May 2019. It is part of the country’s cement industry development plan in 2030.

Vietnam: Cement producers including Vissai Cement and the Vietnam Cement Industry Corporation (VICEM) have reported difficulties in buying coal domestically. Hoang Manh Truong, the chairman of Vissai Cement, said that the company mostly used imported coal in 2018 and this experience has been mirrored by VICEM, according to the Viet Nam News newspaper. The situation has been blamed on a sharp rise in local demand due to new cement plants and no new coal mines.

Indonesia: Semen Indonesia’s cement sales volumes grew by 19% year-on-year to 8.89Mt in the first three months of 2019 from 7.45Mt in the same period in 2018. The company’s acquisition of Holcim Indonesia in February 2019 drove the growth. The cement producer’s domestic sales fell by 3.5% to 5.98Mt although export sales grew significantly. Both domestic and export sales from its Vietnamese TLCC subsidiary fell by 32% to 0.41Mt. Overall national cement sales volumes increased by 3.2% to 17Mt in the reporting period.