In the first half of this year, China produced 456 million tons of cement, up 7.4 percent year on year, the Beijing-based Economic Daily reported Monday.

The growth rate was 10 percentage points lower than that of the same period last year, the newspaper said.

The total output of cement enterprises in the country during the period reached 122.1 billion yuan (14.7 billion US dollars), up 8.6 percent year on year.

In the first five months this year, fixed asset investment in the industry dropped 2.19 percent year on year to 12.6 billion yuan, the newspaper said.

By the end of May, the total profits of cement enterprises reached 1.75 billion yuan, slumping 76.5 percent year on year. 43.5 percent of all cement enterprises witnessed losses, increasing 13 percentage points year on year.

Analysts attributed the profit decrease in the cement industry to the overcapacity of the industry and the price hike of raw materials and fuel, the newspaper said.

Source: Xinhua