Hanoi (VNA) – Unbaked construction materials are targeted toaccount for 30-40 percent of all materials used for building by 2020, accordingto a circular that has been approved by the Government.

The move is part of the nation’s attempts to erase traditional fired brickproduction facilities across the country towards boosting the production andconsumption of more environmentally friendly building materials.


Since 2008, the Governmentand the Ministry of Construction have continued to issue legal documents onresearching, producing, and using unburned construction materials. Any projectsproducing non-fired materials were eligible for support between 2009 and 2015.

In 2014, the Government approved a master plan for the development ofconstruction materials by 2020. A programme on enhancing the production and useof non-fired bricks in Vietnam by the Ministry of Science and Technology andthe Ministry of Construction became a key part of the plan.

Vietnam consumes an average 20 billion bricks on its construction sites eachyear, which is expected to rise to 42 billion by 2020, meaning that the countrywill need some 30,000 hectares of clay as input materials. Thus, without themove towards non-fired bricks, the environment will face severe consequenceswith heavy pollution.

Although unbaked bricks are more durable and water resistant than the bakedversion, Vietnamese consumers still prefer the traditional ones as they are cheaper.

Accordingto experts, the source of clay for producing burned bricks in Vietnam is cheapand readily available, making it tough for non-fired bricks to compete on theconstruction market.

In addition, the use of non-fired bricks faces stricter technical requirement.Most builders are familiar with burned clay bricks and simple tools, whereasnon-fired ones require specialised construction tools.

According to Head of the Construction Material Department under the Ministry ofConstruction Pham Van Bac, increasing natural resource-use tax is among themeasures being implemented to help reduce the dominance of burnt clay bricks.

The ministry is working to complete and issue technical standards andproduction norms for non-fired bricks, he said, given that it is expected tofacilitate the development of this green material.

Unburned bricks have been sold like hot cakes for state-owned projects, saidTran Duy Phuc, Marketing Director at Thanh Phuc Mechanical and ConstructionMaterial JSC.

In a bid to broaden the market share of non-fired bricks, Phuc suggested anincrease in the production of high quality products and rational sellingprices.

Figuresfrom the Ministry of Construction show that there are 41 businessesresearching, designing, manufacturing, and supplying equipment on non-firedconstruction materials nationwide.

The output of non-fired bricks is about 6.8 billion cubes, accounting for about26 percent of the total output of building materials. Meanwhile, the output ofburned clay bricks was 18 billion of cubes.-VNA