Henry Sy Jr. enters cement business

Competition in the cement industry promises to become even more fierce with the entry of a new group headed by Henry “Big Boy” Sy Jr., son and namesake of the wealthiest person in the Philippines who built the SM conglomerate.

The 100-percent Filipino-owned company, called “Big Boss Cement Inc. (BBCI),” boasts of a new technology that will enable the group to manufacture a stronger variety of cement at only half the cost of producing traditional cement.

BBCI president Gilbert S. Cruz said during the company’s launch yesterday that the cement was the “most environment-friendly cement in the world today.”

BBCI claims that its technology does away with the more than century-old system of mining raw materials such as limestone, clay, shale and sand and heating them inside a kiln at around 1,500 C, thus producing heavy carbon dioxide emissions.

It said its patent-pending manufacturing process makes use of readily available raw materials such as lahar, and does not require excessive heat to produce high-quality cement.

Big Boss operates a plant in Porac, Pampanga—a strategic location given that it uses lahar as its main raw material.

The plant has the potential to produce 5,000 bags of cement per month, but Cruz said the company had acquired other properties to expand its operations.

Citing data from the Department of Trade and Industry, Cruz added that Big Boss hoped to supply at least 3 percent of the country’s cement requirement, which was projected to hit 25 million metric tons (MT) this year, and might even skyrocket to 40 million MT in the next five years with the continuing “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure buildup program of the current administration.

For this year, the company aims to sell 18 million bags of cement.

“We are excited at the prospect of making a positive impact not only in the local construction industry but also in terms of decreasing air pollution and damage to the environment,” Cruz said.

“Science and technology are key drivers of our organization. We put a premium on research and development to be able to produce products that are superior while keeping in mind environmental sustainability,” he added.

The company’s first product, the Big Boss Cement Type 1P, will be available in the market by March with a retail price of P206 per bag, which is comparable to current cement prices pegged at P205 to P215 a bag.