Philippines: San Miguel Corporation will invest US$1bn to build five new cement plants in different parts of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. The amount is higher than the earlier announced US$800m due to the addition of three new cement plants to the two previously disclosed facilities.

San Miguel president and COO Ramon Ang said that the five new plants would have a total capacity of 10Mt/yr, 2Mt/yr at each plant. The plants are expected to be operational in 2017. The projects will be undertaken by affiliates Northern Cement and Eagle Cement in Pangasinan, Bulacan, Quezon, Cebu and Davao. San Miguel owns a 35% stake in Northern Cement, while Eagle Cement is privately-owned by Ang.

Ang said that now is a good time to invest in cement because a lot of people are investing in real estate. He added that if ever there were ever oversupply, the market would correct in two to three years. The additional 10Mt/yr capacity would bring San Miguel's cement capacity to roughly 16Mt/yr. Ang said that the cement industry of the Philippines currently has 33Mt/yr of cement capacity, which would increase to 43Mt/yr once San Miguel's new cement plants are in place.