Over 360 new models of dry-process cement will be put into operation in 2011, suggesting that the cement industry in China has an immediate need for recombination, according to a report from the National Business Daily on Wednesday.

Cui Xingtai, the president of China United Cement Corporation, said the present cement enterprises in China are small in size, the market is in a chaotic state and the overall economic benefit to parties involved is poor, hence implying that greater effort is needed to consolidate the the industry.

Xiao Jiaxiang, the president of Southern Cement Co., Ltd., told the National Business Daily on May 21 that overproduction in the cement industry will continue. A few areas in Chinese industry are still in periods of expansion, and although the cement industry sees big opportunities for development in the next five to ten years, it still faces quite a number of challenges that are now bringing the industry to an inflection point.

Published data sources show that cement productivity has continued to surge after the investment boom of dry-process cement in 2007. Many enterprise principals have said that the cement market has exceeded capacity by 20 to 30 percent in East China and 50 to 60 percent in Southwest China.

It is also of note that the price of raw materials for cement enterprises is rising, leaving small margins for profit.