The working delegation of the Ministry of Construction had a working session with Vietnam Cement Corporation (VICEM). The working delegation included Deputy Minister Nguyen Van Sinh, Deputy Minister Nguyen Viet Hung and representatives of leaders of relevant agencies and units under the Ministry of Construction.
Regarding the losses and difficulties in the past year, Chairman of the Board of Directors of VICEM Nguyen Quoc Viet said that 2024 is an extremely difficult year for the construction materials industry in general and cement production in particular.
"The supply of cement is far exceeding the demand. Cement prices tend to continue to decrease while the price of raw materials and input fuel for production remains high" - Mr. Viet shared.
Faced with this difficult situation, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of VICEM said that this unit has synchronously implemented solutions in production and business activities. VICEM has been flexible and proactive in mobilizing the productivity of the furnace to closely follow the actual market situation, increasing the rate of raw materials and fuel to help reduce costs in production and business, while reviewing and reducing costs in production, management and sales stages to improve operational efficiency.
For solutions to implement the production and business plan in 2025 and the next phase, VICEM will continue to focus on implementing solutions implemented in 2024, but with a more drastic, comprehensive, timely and approachable spirit.
"We will focus on equipment management and maintenance to maintain stable production, closely linking production, consumption and optimal inventory management. At the same time, we will promote the application of scientific and technological advances, increase the use of raw materials and alternative fuels in the production of clinker and cement to reduce product costs and increase competitiveness" - Mr. Viet said.
In addition, VICEM will also research and develop a new product production and business plan to increase competitiveness and meet market demand. The company will increase cement processing and product consumption within VICEM, optimize logistics, reduce sales costs, promote brand advantages and overall efficiency. VICEM will also focus on accelerating the progress of projects that take advantage of heat and emissions to generate electricity to improve production and business efficiency.
For construction investment, VICEM continues to focus on main project groups including: in-depth investment projects, improving production capacity, reducing consumption, reducing emissions, increasing the capacity to use waste, other industries; project groups that take advantage of heat and emissions to generate electricity and other construction investment projects.
In addition, Chairman of the Board of Directors of VICEM Nguyen Quoc Viet also gave a detailed report on the restructuring of enterprises.
At the meeting, Minister of Construction Tran Hong Minh requested the Board of Members and the VICEM Executive Board to innovate leadership, direction, and operation methods, improve the efficiency of business management and administration, and strongly apply scientific and technological advances. The Minister also requested an immediate review of all input steps, reducing unnecessary departments and procedures to save maximum costs.
The Minister assigned Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Viet Hung to direct and immediately remove difficulties and obstacles for enterprises, and direct VICEM to review and adjust the 2025 production and business plan of the entire Corporation.
VICEM, a company under the Ministry of Construction with more than 45 years of establishment and development, manages 10 factories nationwide and owns 16 production lines with a capacity of 20 million tons of clinker and 27 million tons of cement per year. VICEM's ecosystem stands out with famous cement brands such as Ha Tien, Hai Phong, Bim Son, Hoang Thach, But Son, Hoang Mai...
VICEM is the only enterprise out of 6 units under the Ministry of Construction (before merging with the Ministry of Transport) to record loss-making business results in 2024. This corporation suffered a consolidated loss of VND1,400 billion in 2024, and in 2023 also recorded a loss of nearly VND1,130 billion.
