Philippines: Holcim Philippines has said its production capacity is expected to reach 10Mt/yr by the end of the first half of 2017, with company COO Sapna Sood stating that this would be achieved by ‘debottlenecking’ existing facilities following a US$40m project that started in 2015.
“We have a project where we are looking at safety and debottlenecking that is near completion,” said Sood. “When we look at the country, the infrastructure that is coming in and the commitment that we are making to infrastructure, it is pretty exciting for the country and the industry.”Sood added that, while the company had no immediate plans to build a new cement plant, Holcim Philippines planned to offer various solutions to help in the implementation of various infrastructure projects.
The total demand for cement in the Philippines reached 26.0Mt in 2016, up from 24.4Mt in 2015, although the final quarter of 2016 and first quarter of 2017 have been subdued.
Holcim Philippines operates four cement plants in La Union, Bulacan, Misamis Oriental and Davao.