Unburnt building materials - shaking "standing"

(Baonghean) - Non-fired construction material (VLXD) production facilities in the province have been established, initially meeting market demand. However, due to many reasons, this type of material, which is considered very useful, has not yet established a firm foothold in the market...

Supply exceeds demand

The sidewalks in Vinh City are currently paved with block bricks with an area of ​​about 445,151 m2, and in the squares, yards of agencies, units, schools, residential areas... also paved with a large area of ​​block bricks or terrazzo bricks, which are unburnt bricks with diverse colors, glossy, and resistant to all weather... Currently, the demand for unburnt bricks for paving floors and sidewalks in the province is increasing, attracting many individuals and units to invest in production. Mr. Pham Hong Vinh - Director of ICEM Construction Materials Joint Stock Company in Ben Thuy Ward said: "In 2009, the company started producing terrazzo bricks and blocks, but recently the demand for unburnt bricks has increased, so we invested in purchasing more equipment and machinery to improve production capacity, and at the same time researched the production of unburnt colored roof tiles. In the first 10 months of 2014, we produced more than 55,000 terrazzo bricks and nearly 1 million high-quality colored roof tiles."

The unburnt brick production line of NTT Construction Materials Joint Stock Company (Son Thanh - Yen Thanh) has stopped production.

With the current rapid development, in the near future, it is predicted that the production of unburnt bricks in the form of dashboards will lead to a situation of supply exceeding demand. One thing worth noting is that most of the units and facilities producing this product are small and medium-sized, with outdated production technology. Therefore, the product quality is not high and monotonous, not creating a breakthrough to expand the consumption market.

Big investment, "trickle-down" production

Although there are many unburnt brick models on the market with reasonable prices, the reality is that the majority of people still have the habit of using traditional burnt clay bricks. Therefore, many businesses producing unburnt bricks using new technology in the province are struggling, even bankrupt.

Lung Lo 2.1 Investment - Development Joint Stock Company (in Vinh Tan - Vinh City) has boldly invested 6 billion VND in producing unburnt bricks using German foaming technology since 2008 and has become one of the pioneering enterprises in producing super-light concrete bricks using new technology, but since going into production until now, only in 2010 has it operated at full capacity (20 m3 of bricks/day), the rest is operating at a standstill. Mr. Dang Xuan Duong - Officer of Lung Lo 2.1 Investment and Development Joint Stock Company said: "Production using foaming technology, the super light concrete bricks still float when dropped into water. In addition, this type of brick also helps reduce the load on the foundation, is soundproof, heat-insulated, and waterproof very well and is suitable for construction works, especially high-rise buildings. Despite such advantages, the consumption of this type of brick is very difficult. The products are mainly used for high-rise apartment buildings invested by the unit. Due to the difficulty in output, the production line has stopped since May 2012". However, this unit still "keeps the factory" with the hope of waiting for new opportunities and suitable policies to continue investing in the production of super light concrete bricks. In the same situation, Mai Linh Construction Materials & Trading Services Joint Stock Company (in Ben Thuy ward) has boldly invested in a new technology unburnt brick production line using environmentally friendly green cement; The product was highly appreciated by customers, but then still could not compete with traditional terracotta bricks, so production had to be temporarily stopped...

Currently, in Vinh City, there are a number of enterprises investing in technology to produce unburnt bricks and lightweight concrete with a capacity of tens of millions of bricks/year, but they have all stopped production because the products cannot compete with burnt clay bricks. In 2012, Trung Thanh Construction Materials Joint Stock Company (in Nghi Hung - Nghi Loc) invested 20 billion VND in the production of unburnt construction materials with a modern and synchronous production line. However, the construction brick products could not "stand" in the market. Also in order to "take a shortcut and get ahead", TECCO invested in a production line to produce unburnt bricks, but the products were still difficult to sell, and most of them were only used in the construction projects of the enterprise. Or in Hoang Mai Town, the factory producing crushed stone concrete blocks with a capacity of 10-15 million bricks/year is having difficulty operating because there is no market...

In the past, in the province, there were also 2 large projects investing in the field of non-fired construction materials production, namely Vietnam Cement Corporation, producing lightweight concrete blocks in Dong Hoi Industrial Park and producing lightweight concrete blocks in Thai Hoa Town (invested by Construction Investment and Trading Joint Stock Company and Hanoi Branch under Bac A Joint Stock Bank) which are considered as the driving force for developing the non-fired construction materials market, but up to now, the projects are all behind schedule or have not been implemented.

Looking for solutions

Seeing the advantages of unburnt construction materials, the province has recently developed a project called “Developing unburnt bricks in Nghe An province by 2020”. Accordingly, the target is to produce 100 million high-quality unburnt bricks by 2013. This is the basis for starting the roadmap from 2014, public investment construction projects (headquarters, schools, hospitals) are required to use high-quality unburnt bricks and high-rise buildings use 30% of the total materials as unburnt bricks. However, with the sad reality of the investment and development of unburnt bricks using new technology, it shows that these goals are difficult to become a reality.

Mr. Hoang Trong Kim - Director of the Department of Construction said: "In order for unburnt construction materials products in the province to develop, it is necessary to accelerate the elimination of manual brick kilns and gradually limit the production of burnt clay bricks. Currently, the province is organizing an interdisciplinary inspection team in districts, towns and cities with 3 contents on the implementation of the roadmap to eliminate manual brick kilns, the progress of implementing unburnt brick production projects, and resolving difficulties in the implementation process. Through this inspection, there will continue to be supplements and adjustments to appropriate mechanisms and policies to encourage the development of unburnt brick products...". It is known that the province's recent direction to develop a plan for the development of unburnt construction bricks in the area is an important basis for attracting investment.

According to the planning, there are 3 key areas of the unburnt material production industry: the Northern region (including Quynh Luu district, Hoang Mai town, Thai Hoa town, Nghia Dan district), in these localities, priority is given to developing the production of unburnt construction bricks using autoclaved aerated concrete technology; the Southern region (Dien Chau district, Nghi Loc, Cua Lo town, Vinh city, Hung Nguyen), focusing on implementing medium and large-scale unburnt construction material production projects to meet the development needs in the area; the Western region is the districts on Ho Chi Minh road (including Do Luong, Anh Son, Tan Ky) with great potential for construction development, so priority is given to investing in the construction of large-scale, modern fired construction brick production projects...

Regarding macro policies, the unburnt brick production sector has been approved by the Government with the "Program for development of unburnt construction materials to 2020" according to Decision 567/QD-TTg dated April 28, 2010 of the Prime Minister; Directive No. 10/CT-TTg dated April 16, 2012 on: "Increasing the use of unburnt construction materials and limiting the production and use of burnt clay bricks". The Provincial People's Committee has also issued "Regulations on a number of preferential policies and investment support in Nghe An province"... In addition to those policies, the province is studying and issuing new policies such as: Not supporting burnt clay brick production facilities; drafting policies to support the development of unburnt bricks; moving forward, it is possible to specify regulations requiring design consulting organizations and investors when designing works to apply load-bearing frame structural solutions to use lightweight unburnt bricks as partition walls; guidelines for implementing new national standards on unburnt materials; proposing competent authorities to exempt income tax for an appropriate period for enterprises using fly ash, slag, and industrial waste as raw materials for the production of new construction materials. Accordingly, units that discharge waste, provide ash, slag, and waste to other enterprises as raw materials for the production of unburnt construction materials will have their environmental protection fees reduced... The groups of solutions on mechanisms and policies of the management always support enterprises producing unburnt bricks, but a decisive solution is to change the "habit" of people's use, which is still waiting...

Hoang Vinh