Le Quang Hung, chair of the Vietnam Concrete Association, former Deputy Minister of Construction, said shortages of building material occur in some places and are abundant in others.

There are three groups of building materials. The first includes materials used to embank roads (earth, asphalt concrete). The demand for the materials is very high, but a supply shortage exists because of the shortage of materials at sand mines.

The second group comprises reinforced cement concrete. The problem lies in consumption.

The third group of materials comprises glass and ceramic products. The products have been selling very slowly because of the sluggish real estate market and weak demand from civil engineering. 

A report found that in the first five months of 2023, output and consumption of cement manufacturers decreased by 20 percent compared with the same period in 2022.

As for the steel industry, the raw steel output dropped by 22 percent compared with the same period last year, while sales decreased by 18 percent and exports 78 percent. 

The output of structural steel also decreased by 26.4 percent, sales by 26 percent, and exports 41.7 percent.

Chair of the Viet Nam Building Ceramic Association (VIBCA) Dinh Quang Huy reported that ceramics manufacturers are now running at just 50-60 percent of designed capacity, but inventories are still high at 18-20 percent.

The production and business performance of the enterprises have decreased by 30-35 percent since 2021. 

In 2022 and the first quarter of 2023, the ceramics market was nearly frozen in both production and circulation with 10-15 percent of enterprises in distress and many of them on the verge of bankruptcy.

As for the construction glass sector, in 2020-2021, about 80 percent of facilities which manufactured and installed glass had to suspend production and business, while the revenue of the entire sector dropped by 50-70 percent compared with the same period   in the previous years.

The real estate market has declined seriously since April 2022, resulting in a sharp fall in construction glass demand.

Meanwhile, according to the deputy chair of the Vietnam Association of Road and Bridge Engineering, the number of mines available for exploitation and use as material for road embankment can satisfy only one- sixth of demand. 

The volume of soil and sand needed for foundation treatment at sections through delta areas is especially high.

Associations have made a series of proposals to help expand the market and increase demand. The Vietnam Steel Association has asked the Ministry of Finance to lower VAT from 10 percent to 8 percent.

Anh Phuong