Tunnel brick output 'blocked', many factories operate at a standstill

Present at Tan Ky tunnel brick factory located in Ky Son commune, we witnessed bricks stacked in long, messy aisles that overflowed to the gate, but no cars came to buy. Mr. Nguyen Van Tam - Factory Director said: If at this time last year, the factory sold about 4-5 million bricks, and there were even times when there was a shortage, this year on the contrary, sales are very "drop by drop", there are quite a lot of bricks in stock, there are days when not a single truck of goods can be sold.

“The reason bricks cannot be sold is because from the beginning of 2023 until now, construction works of private houses and works and projects with State investment capital have been less implemented, so sales are slow. Sales are not even half of the same period. Currently, the factory has over 10 million bricks in stock, in recent months the workforce has been cut, the factory has had to operate at a low level…”, the Director of Tan Ky Tunnel Brick Factory added.

Another brick factory in Nghia Dung commune, Tan Ky district is also in a gloomy situation. A representative of the factory in Nghia Dung commune shared: Every year during the construction season, workers have to work overtime at the peak. However, since the beginning of the year, bricks have been produced but not sold, with nearly 10 million bricks in stock. This time, the rainy season has begun, the production and consumption situation will be even more difficult, and the factory has not yet found a solution.

According to research, in Yen Thanh district, there are 2 brick factories that are also struggling in the consumption stage. Mr. Nguyen Ba Duc - Director of Yen Thanh tunnel brick factory shared: The factory has an operating capacity of 20 million bricks/year, creating stable jobs for over 100 workers. Usually, the time after Tet is called the "golden season" of construction because many public investment projects and civil works have started. However, since the beginning of the year, brick products have been sold very little, currently there are over 5 million bricks in stock. From the beginning of July 2023, the factory decided to stop production for long-term repairs and also to sell all the products in stock.

At this time, many tunnel brick factories in Nghe An are having to operate at a low level to try to keep workers, because if workers quit, it will be very difficult to find workers when the brick market recovers. According to a report by the Department of Industry and Trade, Nghe An currently has 27 tunnel brick factories, distributed in 12 districts, cities and towns including Tan Ky, Thanh Chuong, Yen Thanh, Nam Dan, Hung Nguyen districts, with a total designed capacity of over 700 million bricks/year. Since the beginning of 2023, due to difficulties in output, factories have had an inventory of about 55-60 million tunnel bricks.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hiep - Head of the Department of Industrial Management (Department of Industry and Trade) also said: The difficult situation in exporting tunnel bricks is forecasted to continue. The Department of Industry and Trade recommends that businesses in this field must closely monitor the market situation and find proactive and flexible solutions. At the same time, innovate management methods, improve management capacity, boldly invest in changing production technology to save costs, reduce prices and improve product quality...

In the long term, businesses need to gradually have a plan to transform, focusing on the investment and production of unburnt bricks, because the Government is encouraging constructions to use unburnt bricks, alternative materials are a suitable trend for sustainable development.