Lafarge is to increase the capacity of its Chongquin cement works in China from 0.8Mt to 1.8Mt by building a second production line.  The US$40m investment is expected to be completed during the latter part of next year.  Lafarge took control of Chongquing Cement in June of last year, when it paid US$30m for a 71 per cent stake in the plant, which serves a market of some 30m people in south-western Chinese province of Sichuan.  This is a significantly larger increase in capacity that was envisaged at the time of the acquisition, when Lafarge was talking about an increase in capacity to 1.2Mt over two years.  Last year, Lafarge completed a new cement works near the capital of the Sichuan province with an annual capacity of around 1.5Mt. Elsewhere in Asia, Lafarge Roofing has brought on stream two new tile plants in early January; a concrete tile plant in Bangalore in India and a clay tile plant at Rayong in Thailand.  The latter through the joint venture with Siam Cement, where Lafarge is the minority partner.
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