Cement export of Hebei province suffered y-o-y drop of 74.3 percent in H1

Statistics from Hebei Customs shows that Hebei province in the first half exported 270,000 tons of cements valued at 11.36 million US dollars, down 74.3 percent and 68.7 percent respectively compared to the same period of last year.

The sharp drop may be attributed mainly to the country's macro-control to discourage the export of such products as cements, which consume too much energy and produce too many pollutants. Since September 15, 2006, China has adjusted down the export rebate from 13 percent to the present 11 percent, hindering Hebei's cement export.

In the meanwhile, cement makers also geared up to turn to domestic markets. Statistics shows that the export of Jidong Cement, the largest cement exporter of Hebei, in the first half was only 190,000 tons, a sharp drop of 79.8 percent year on year, while that in the first and second half of last year reached 990,000 tons and 540,000 tons, respectively. Jidong Cement, whose export takes up 70.6 percent of Hebei total, has also seen an 23.3 percentage point reduction in the weight of it export to the province's total year on year.

It is predicted that the cement export would further wither with the cancellation of the export rebate as of July 1.

While the export of state-owned enterprises in the province plunged sharply, the cement export of foreign-invested companies showed a upward trend. The export run by state-owned enterprises totaled 220,000 tons in the first half, a year-on-year reduce of 78.6 percent, but foreign companies exported 50,000 tons, up 12.8 percent.

The export price in Hebei has enjoyed a big jump, averaged at 42 US dollars/ton, up 26.4 percent year on year or nine US dollars more than the national average. It is expected that the export price would have much space to rise with the cancellation of export rebate.

The high-price cement mainly went to U.S.A. and South Korea in the first half, and such traditional markets as Nigeria and Iran, whose import once took up 20 percent of China's export in the past couple years, did not import Chinese cement at all. South Korea imported 180,000 tons of Chinese cement in the first half, up 49.1 percent and the U.S.A. imported 60,000 tons, up 85.1 percent.