FiinGroup’s expert analysis on Vietnam Cement market Outlook: Challenges and Key development trends

Mr. Hai Khieu (Director, Market Research & Consulting, FiinGroup) recently has a journal published about Vietnam Cement sector on International Cement Review - the leading portal for the cement manufacturing sector. This is taken as the lead article for the topic exclusive distribution at Cemtech Asia 2023 Conference and Exhibition: “Decarbonizing the Asian cement sector: Manufacturing excellence and the Circular Economy”. The seminar attracted 250 professionals in the cement sector, including leading cement producers and industry experts.  

The article by Mr. Hai Khieu assesses the emerging trends of the Vietnam cement industry during its transition into a new low-carbon future and addresses challenges. In the context that the Vietnam cement sector is facing challenging market conditions and higher production costs, energy efficiency and decarbonization have emerged as two of the key issues for Vietnam producers to optimize operations, and reduce energy costs and carbon emissions, toward an improved environmental record. 

Further discussing about this topic at Cemtech Asia 2023, Mr. Hai Khieu shared expertise analytics on the outlook and examined the key development trends for Vietnam cement market. Some key discussions brought up in the seminar:  

1. Regarding clinker and cement in Vietnam, the demand is weakened in both domestic and export markets, while the designed capacity is forecasted to surge. Particularly, the deceleration in domestic sales volume across all regions was resulted by stagnant construction market. Meanwhile, shrinkage in clinker and cement export was due to the weakened demand from Chinese buyers in 2022 and Q1/2023. On the contrary, the designed capacity for clinkers and cement is forecasted to continue rising in the next five years, attributed to new facilities by private cement manufacturers.  

2. The outlook and assessment of the domestic and export markets are deemed negative. The domestic situation is explained by the slow public disbursement and slump in the real estate market, together with the slowdown in the construction market. Export markets are also assessed with a pessimistic outlook, mainly attributed to the slump in clinker export volume to China. Regarding the supply side, Vietnam cement sector is forecasted to face with the continuous situation in 2023, with an average declining sector utilization rate in both China and domestic market.    

3. Decarbonization is the key development trend to gain competitive advantage while complying with legal requirements. In which, Waste Heat Recovery (WHR) and Co-processing are the technologies for emission control in the upcoming period.   

• Waste Heat Recovery is among the most adopted, feasible and fastest-growing decarbonization technologies in the cement industry. In Vietnam, approximately one-third of plants are WHR-installed, most of which are owned by local private manufacturers.   

• As for co-processing practice, conventional fuel consumption was reduced by 2% industry wide. In which, industrial waste including tires, rags, sawdust, etc. is currently the top favored for co-processing practices.  

In the past few years, FiinGroup has carried out numerous consulting and research projects in the cement sector, supporting domestic and foreign cement manufacturers/traders with valuable insights to make informed decisions and stay ahead of the competition. 

The presentation deck for Cemtech Asia 2023 can be accessed and downloaded HERE.

Further details of the Seminar can be found on International Cement Review website HERE.

Email: research.support@fiingroup.vn  

Tel: (84-24) 3562 6962