Siam Cement Group mulls entry into Philippines
Thai conglomerate, Siam Cement Public Co Ltd (SCG), is looking to manufacture cement in the Philippines on top of its existing network in the rest of Southeast Asia, an official said late on Monday.
“Regarding investment [in the Philippines], in the future, we are looking for a cement plant, if any. We got invited by President [Benigno S C. Aquino III] to invest in cement so we are going to look into opportunity for this,” Kan Trakulhoon, SCG president and chief executive told visiting reporters in Bangkok.
“The Philippines is one of our strategic countries for investment,” he said, citing Indonesia, and Vietnam as well.
However, if SCG pushes through with the investment it will be entering an industry where installed production capacity outpaces actual market demand. Cement sales reportedly grew 7%-8% to as much as 15.627Mt in 2010 according to the Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (CeMAP).
But kiln capacity, in contrast, stood at 19.547Mt while grinding capacity was at 26.37Mt in 2009, industry data show. Published under Cement News
