Myanmar's Cement Production Up in F

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Myanmar's Cement Production Up in First Six Months

Xinhua, Rangoon, 1 October 2000.Myanmar produced 174,778 tons of cement in 
the first six
months of this year, up 9.5 percent from the same period of 1999, according 
to the latest
issue of the official Economic Indicators.

During the six-month period, the country reduced import of cement, buying 
in only 14.85 million
U.S. dollars of the commodity, while it imported 26.6 million dollars worth 
of them in the same
period of 1999.

Myanmar's cement production fell for a three consecutive years since 1996 
and picked up only in
1999.

In the wake of the rising demand for cement in its infrastructure 
construction such as roads, bridges
and dams, Myanmar is also making efforts to build more cement plants.

In last June, Myanmar signed an accord with a Chinese company to build a 
500-ton-daily-capacity
cement plant in Kyaukse, central Mandalay division of the country.

It is reported that Myanmar is also trying to get a foreign loan of 150 
million dollars to build a
4,000-ton daily-capacity large-scale cement plant.