China's cement industry has been trapped in sharp profit decline as is the steel industry, and the actual capacity utilization has declined to 65 percent, according to an Economic Information Daily report on Tuesday.
Industry insiders reckon that previous ultra high speed development has overdrawn the demand for cement, and closing obsolete cement-making capacity and promoting merger and restructure will be the new orientation for the industry.
At least 500 million tonnes of low-grade cement capacity will be eliminated. The number of loss-making cement companies has reached 1,339 and accounted for 40 percent of the total, said Kong Xiangzhong, executive vice president and secretary general of China Cement Association.
The cement companies lost 17 billion yuan in the first three quarters of this year and among the meager profit-making producers, many were suffering invisible losses.
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