Displaying items by tag: Philcement

Philippines: Davao International Container Terminal (DICT) has entered into a joint venture with Philcement to construct a dedicated berth for cement and cementitious material shipments in Davao, reports Port Calls magazine. It will oversee the construction of a 200-metre bulk terminal at berth five. Construction will commence in November 2024 and operation is expected by mid-2026. The terminal is valued at US$12.5m and will handle 2Mt/yr of cement for distribution across Mindanao, with shipping to other parts of the country being considered. Additional equipment and construction costs for a cement terminal are estimated at around US$41m.

Congratulations to Taiheiyo Cement Philippines (TCPI) this week for inaugurating its new 3Mt/yr production line at its Cebu plant. The US$220m line replaces the old line at the site that was closed in late 2021.

The plant was originally built by Grand Cement Manufacturing in the early 1990s. Japan-based Taiheiyo Cement took over in 2001 and later made the decision to upgrade the site in 2017. It then contracted China-based Anhui Conch and Sinoma (Handan) Construction for the project in 2021 and groundbreaking took place in mid-2022. Commercial operation of the new line was previously scheduled from May 2024. TCPI has also invested around US$140m in related projects such as its Jetty and Marine Belt Conveyor project, which links the Cebu plant to the coast via a conveyor. Other parts of this expenditure encompass the Luzon Distribution Terminal Project at Calaca in Batangas and general port development in San Fernando.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) was keen to promote this example of a foreign-owned company investing in local manufacturing. DTI Secretary Fred Pascual pointed out that Japan is the country’s “second-largest trading partner and third-largest source of foreign investment.” He also linked the project to the national Build Better More infrastructure development programme and the Tatak Pinoy Act that was introduced in early 2024 to promote local industry. Along these lines, Republic Cement was awarded the Domestic Bidder’s Certificate of Preference this week. It is the first cement company to receive it. The initiative promotes the use of local manufactured materials in government projects as part of the Tatak Pinoy Act. As one might expect, the Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (CEMAP) supports the Tatak Pinoy Act. It voiced its support for the legislation in June 2024 when the DTI started to implement it. It noted that cement imports were just under 7Mt/yr in 2023 despite the anti-dumping duties imposed on a number of Vietnam-based producers and traders. This compares to a local production capacity of nearly 50Mt/yr.

CEMAP mentioned that new production lines from both TCPI and Solid Cement were expected in 2024. The latter project is a new production line being built at Solid Cement’s Antipolo plant near Manilla in Rizal province. Cemex Philippines held a groundbreaking ceremony for the 1.5Mt/yr line at its subsidiary back in 2019. However, Cemex said it was selling its Philippines-based business to DMCI Holdings and related companies in April 2024. As part of this process Cemex sold its local cement brands to the Consunji family, the owners of DMCI Holdings, in June 2024. Regulatory approval of the divestment is still pending but the sale of the brands suggest that the transaction is progressing. Completion is expected by the end of 2024. Operation of the new line at the Antipolo plant is anticipated from September 2024.

Another forthcoming plant project was announced by PHINMA Corporation in June 2024. It signed a joint venture deal with investment company Anflo Group to build a 2Mt/yr cement plant in Davao del Norte. The project is scheduled to be operational by 2026. Cement from the plant will be marketed under the Union Cement brand. The sums involved suggest a grinding plant but PHINMA’s cement division, Philcement Corporation, is involved with both manufacture and importation. PHINMA also signed a deal to buy Petra Cement in May 2024. The latter company runs a 0.5Mt/yr cement grinding plant in Zamboanga del Norte. PHINMA re-entered the cement market in the late 2010s when it bought the Union Cement brand and built a cement processing plant at Mariveles, Bataan in 2020.

The battles between cement producers and importers continue to play out in the Philippines as the country’s infrastructure plans gather pace. Yet the balance seems to be tilting more towards the favour of the local manufacturers at the moment, as new capacity gets proposed and built. Anti-dumping duties on imports, particularly those from Vietnam, have now been followed up with local procurement rules in the guise of the Tatak Pinoy Act. Whether this is enough remains to be seen. This kind of environment and the departure of Cemex may also start to revive questions about whether any other foreign-owned cement companies might be considering their options too.

Philippines: PHINMA Corporation, through its subsidiary Philcement Corporation, is set to acquire 100% of Petra Cement for US$8.6m. The Share Purchase Agreement was signed on 21 May 2024, with the transaction expected to close by 31 December 2024, according to the Manila Bulletin. This acquisition from Petra is part of PHINMA's expansion in the Mindanao region. The Petra Plant, with a capacity of 500,000t/yr, is located in Zamboanga del Norte.

Additionally, PHINMA plans to construct a 1.5Mt/yr cement packaging plant in Davao, raising its total capacity to approximately 5Mt/yr upon completion of all projects.

Philippines: Germany-based TÜV Nord has awarded three ISO certificates to Philcement Corporation's Bataan cement bagging plant and distribution centre in Mariveles. The facility achieved an ISO 9001:2015 for quality management, an ISO 45001:2018 for occupational health and safety management and an ISO 14001:2015 for environmental management.

Philcement Corporation, a subsidiary of PHINMA Corporation, previously secured a loan towards an upgrade to the Bataan terminal in September 2022.

Chair Ramon del Rosario Junior said “As we continue to provide a reliable and consistent supply of cement products of good quality, these ISO certifications attest to PHINMA, Philcement and our partners’ expertise in this industry. These give us even greater confidence in our operations and especially in the products that we offer our customers."

Philippines: Phinma Corporation subsidiary Philcement has taken a US$1.73m loan for an expansion and upgrades to its Mariveles cement terminal in Bataan. The Manila Times newspaper has reported that the company secured the loan using the proceeds from its bond issuance earlier in September 2022.

Philippines: Phinma Corp.’s cement subsidiary Philcement has ramped up its return to production with the commissioning of a 2.0Mt/yr integrated cement plant with attached terminal facilities in the port of Bataan. The Philippine Star has reported that the company, whose six integrated plants had a majority market share in the country prior to the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997, has invested US$100m on its re-entry to production, including on the Bataan facility, since it announced the return of its Union cement brand to the market in 2018.

Phinma Corp. president and CEO Ramón del Rosario said, “We believe in this government’s ‘Build Build Build’ program and we want to help ensure the success of this program by augmenting supply and offering the highest quality cement to support critical projects.”

Phinma Corp. is among domestic producers awaiting the result of an appeal by the country’s importers against the legality of the government’s safeguard duty on imported cement.

Philippines: Phinma Corporation has secured a US$16.7m loan for its cement business, PhilCement, to build a terminal at Mariveles in Bataan. The five-year fixed term loan agreement was signed with Security Bank on 1 June 2018, according to Business World. PhilCement was set up in September 2017. Phinma Corporation owns a 85.7% stake in the business.

Philippines: Phinma Group has returned to the cement industry bringing its ‘Union Cement’ brand back to the market. Its cement production subsidiary, Philcement, is also building a new 2Mt/yr cement plant in Bataan, according to the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper. The new plant is expected to be operational in early 2019. No cost for the plant has been disclosed.

Phinma sold its majority interest in Union Cement in 2004 and the business eventually became part of Switerland’s Holcim. However, Phinma subsequently required the Union Cement trademark after Holcim Philippines abandoned it.

The cement producer’s head is Eduardo Sahagun, the former boss of Holcim Philippines from 2013 to 2017. At present Philcement is distributing cement from third parties.