Malaysia: Lafarge Malayan Cement, Malaysia's largest cement producer, is considering an expansion drive to help meet buoyant domestic demand. Lafarge Malaysia has a 40% share of the local market, in which the total industry production averages 20Mt/yr.

"We will probably expand... (but) it needs to be finalised by our board and I can't discuss it in advance," said Lafarge Malaysia president and chief executive officer Bradley Mulroney in an interview. He added that as market leader, the company has to make sure that it has sufficient capacity to maintain its position.

Lafarge Malayan Cement holds three integrated cement plants, a grinding plant and it operates five quarries. In 2012 the company reported a 10% growth in net profit while revenue grew 7% to US$887m.

Lafarge's rivals in the sector include YTL Cement Bhd, Tasek Corp Bhd and Cement Industries of Malaysia Bhd (CIMA). Both YTL Cement and CIMA have planned capacity expansions of around 1.5Mt/yr. According to Bank Negara Malaysia, the construction sector will grow by 15.9% in 2013, helped by various projects under the government's Economic Transformation Programme (ETP).