Hanoi's cement output up

Hanoi's cement output up

HANOI (Reuter): Vietnam, experiencing a building boom as its economy develops, produced 4.7 million tons of cement this year, 500,000 tons more than in 1993, state radio reported on Saturday.

The state-owned Vietnam Cement Corporation (VCC), responsible for cement output, expected to increase production by 15 percent next year over 1994's figure, the Voice of Vietnam said.

VCC has been seeking $2.6 billion from foreign investors over the next five years to reach its target capacity of 20 million tons a year by 2000.

Supplies of locally made cement fall far short of demand, estimated at 6.5 million tons in 1995. Imports totaled more than 1.5 million tons this year.

The VCC is upgrading several of its 12 plants. Taiwan's Ching Fong group is building a new plant at Haiphong in northern Vietnam and Switzerland's Holderbank Financiere Glaris is constructing one in the Mekong Delta in the south.