Cement company eyes billion-peso expansion

Cement firm Lafarge Republic Inc. is investing some 18.48 million euros, or over a billion pesos, in a new cement mill at its manufacturing plant in Bulacan to further boost its production capacity by 2015.

This move will allow the company to meet an expected increase in demand, given the government’s plan to boost infrastructure spending to over P400 billion in the years ahead.

The new cement mill will have an annual capacity of 850,000 tons a year. It will be operational by June 2015, six months after the commissioning of a similar mill in Lafarge’s Teresa manufacturing plant scheduled in January 2015.

In a statement, Lafarge said its recent expansion plan capped a successful series of projects to build new capacity for its manufacturing network. The projects will enable Lafarge to produce an additional 1.7 million tons by 2015.

“These investments are a visible example of Lafarge Republic’s commitment to reliably supply its world leading cement and aggregate products throughout the Philippines to fully support the ambitious growth targets of both the government and private sector.  In spite of the recent calamities that struck the central and southern portions of the country, the Philippine economy has demonstrated resiliency, and LRI will be there to rebuild damaged homes … throughout the country,” said Lafarge Republic president Renato Sunico.

Last year, Lafarge reopened its Danao Plant in Cebu and implemented projects in its Iligan and Norzagaray plants to address bottleneck issues. The projects provided an additional 500,000 tons of cement a year.

“The recommissioning of our facility in Danao enables us to flexibly serve demand during peak periods. We believe in the long term development of the Philippines and will continue to develop strategically important capacity expansion projects that will ensure supply,” said Lafarge Holdings Philippines Inc. president Don H. Lee.

In the first nine months of 2013, LRI registered a 55-percent rise in profit to P3 billion. Recorded net sales for the same period also improved by 22 percent from that of the previous year.