In August, national cement output rose 8.2% year-on-year, 0.5 percentage points slower than the same period last year; flat glass output grew 15.7%, compared with a decline of 8.4% in the same period last year.

　　Cement prices edged up, while flat glass prices fell slightly. In August, the average ex-factory price of cement at key building materials enterprises was 340.1 yuan/ton, up 2.6 yuan/ton from the previous month and up 6 yuan/ton year-on-year, increases of 0.8% and 1.8%, respectively. The ex-factory price of flat glass was 63.7 yuan/weight case, down 1 yuan/weight case from the previous month, a decline of 1.5%; it was up 3.2 yuan/weight case year-on-year, an increase of 5.2%. At the end of the month, cement inventories at key building materials enterprises stood at 19.54 million tons, up 15.7% year-on-year; flat glass inventories were 44.16 million weight cases, up 5%.

　　In January-July, the building materials industry realized profits of 201.73 billion yuan, up 18.8% year-on-year. Among them, the cement manufacturing industry recorded profits of 28.37 billion yuan, up 9%; the flat glass industry recorded profits of 1.93 billion yuan, compared with a net loss of 660 million yuan in the same period last year.