China’s 266 major cement makers produced a combined 46.38 million tons of cement in August, up 6.1% year-on-year, and sold 47.35 million tons, up 7.1% year-on-year, the China Securities Journal reported. Production growth was 7.5 percentage points slower than in July while sales growth was 5.5 percentage points slower. Cement production added up to 888 million tons for the first eight months of the year, up 7.35% or half the rate of a year earlier. Industry experts have warned the cement industry is on the verge of a slowdown with domestic consumption likely to be between 1.41 billion and 1.46 billion tons this year, up by just 4-8% on last year. Wang Xiaoliang, a Dcement.com analyst, attributed the decline to falling prices after stockpiles began increasing from September.