China's cement growth slows in November 2011, but flat glass output accelerates

BEIJING, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- China's building materials showed different momentum of growth in November 2011, with a slowing cement output growth and a speeding plate glass, according to latest statistics from the country's top economic planner.

Cement output growth in November 2011 stood at 11.2 percent year-on-year, 6.1 percentage points lower than previous year, while plate glass production expansion reached 7.1 percent year-on-year, quickening by by 0.5 percentage points from previous year.

Still, China's cement output reached 1.89 trillion tonnes in the first 11 months of last year, an increase 17.2 percent year-on-year, 1.6 percentage points faster than previous year.

The output of flat glass, a sector fraught with overcapacity and duplicated construction problems, rose 17 percent year-on-year to 6.82 trillion weight boxes in the January-November period of last year, according to the NDRC.

Profits of China's building materials industry surged 53.1 percent year-on-year to 243.7 billion yuan (38.68 billion U.S. dollars) in the first 11 months of 2011.

To curb the overcapacity and repeated construction in the flat glass sector, the NDRC said in a statement in October 2011 that it would take move nationwide to clear up projects for construction of flat glass production facilities.