China cement industry profit up 60 pct - NDRC

BEIJING, Feb 16 (Reuters) - China's cement makers, producing nearly half the world's total, may have posted a more than 60 percent profit increase last year at 24 billion yuan ($3.34 billion), owing to booming infrastructure and real estate sectors, the government said.

Total cement output rose 13.5 percent from a year earlier at 1.35 billion tonnes, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said on its Web site www.ndrc.gov.cn.

Under an industry reshuffle to boost efficiency, China last year shut down small, obsolete plants with 52 million tonnes production capacity but added bigger plants with more than 80 million tonnes capacity, the report said.

Cement prices have been rising since last November to a peak at over 600 yuan ($83.6) per tonne, it said.

Exports of cement dropped by nearly 9 percent to 33 million tonnes last year, after Beijing cut tax rebates for exports amid a broad move to curb energy-consuming sectors, NDRC said.

China has about 5,000 cement producers, a number the government aims to slash drastically in the coming years.

Anhui Conch (0914.HK: Quote, Profile, Research), China National Building Material Co Ltd (3323.HK: Quote, Profile, Research) and Jidong Cement 000401.SZ are among the country's largest producers.

($=7.178 yuan) (Reporting by Chen Aizhu, editing by Mike Peacock)