The Philippines is Vietnam's largest import market for cement and clinker.

According to preliminary statistics from the General Department of Customs, in the first 8 months of 2024, the country exported nearly 20.55 million tons of cement and clinker, earning nearly 788.8 million USD, down 3.2% in volume and 14.5% in value compared to the first 8 months of 2023. Export prices also decreased by 11.6%, reaching an average of 38.4 USD/ton.

In August 2024 alone, cement and clinker exports decreased by over 7% in both volume and value compared to July 2024 and decreased by 0.18% in price, reaching nearly 2.33 million tons, equivalent to over 90.13 million USD, with an average price of 38.7 USD/ton; compared to August 2023, it decreased by 14.3% in volume, 22.5% in value and 9.5% in price.

The Philippines is Vietnam's largest cement and clinker import market. Photo: Toan Thang

Major markets such as China, the Philippines, Bangladesh... have all reduced purchases of cement and clinker from Vietnam, leading to a continuous decrease in exports of this group of products since the beginning of the year.

In the first 8 months of 2024, cement and clinker exports to the Philippines market decreased by 1.8% in volume, 13% in value and 11.4% in price compared to the first 8 months of 2023, which is the largest market consuming Vietnam's cement and clinker, accounting for 26.1% of the total volume and 27.2% of the total export turnover of cement and clinker of the whole country, reaching over 5.35 million tons, equivalent to 214.3 million USD, with an average price of 40 USD/ton.

Cement and clinker exports to Bangladesh - the second largest market, reached 4.18 million tons, worth 133.9 million USD, with an average price of 32 USD/ton (up 5.2% in volume but down 11.4% in turnover and down 15.8% in price); accounting for 20.4% of total volume and 17% of total turnover.

Next is the Taiwan market (China), accounting for 4.8% of the total volume and 4.5% of the total turnover, reaching 994,735 tons, equivalent to 35.55 million USD, price 35.7 USD/ton (down 17.2% in volume, down 24.5% in turnover and down 8.9% in price).

In the past 8 months, the Chinese market imported 44.6 thousand tons of cement and clinker from Vietnam, worth 1.57 million USD, down 93.8% in volume and 94.2% in value compared to the same period last year.

Cement and clinker exports in the first 8 months of 2024. Source: According to data from the General Department of Customs

Vietnam's cement industry currently has a capacity of over 120 million tons/year, but can produce over 130 - 140 million tons/year (thanks to adjusting the ratio of additives). It is in an unprecedented difficult situation, when supply is large while domestic consumption and export demand are both shrinking.

In 2023, the cement industry exported more than 31.3 million tons of clinker and cement, bringing in more than 1.32 billion USD, down 1.2% in volume and 4.1% in value compared to the same period in 2022.

This is the second year of sharp decline in exports, only around 31 - 32 million tons. Compared to the export record of nearly 46 million tons in 2022, the cement industry does not know when it will return to this threshold. With the current market situation, many indicators are showing that exports in 2024 will continue to decrease compared to 2023.

According to the Vietnam Cement Association (VNCA), cement and clinker exports will continue to face difficulties this year, as the Chinese real estate market has not shown signs of recovery, Chinese cement is also in surplus and is expected to compete with Vietnamese cement in export markets such as the Philippines, Central America, South Africa, etc.

Source: https://congthuong.vn/philippines-la-thi-truong-nhap-khau-xi-mang-va-clinker-lon-nhat-cua-viet-nam-348506.html