Holcim bullish on Philippine growth projects

MANILA, Philippines -  The Philippine unit of cement maker Holcim Ltd. has grown increasingly optimistic of its growth prospects in the country, driven by its increased capacity and the government’s aggressive infrastructure buildup program.

In an interview Tuesday, Holcim Philippines Inc. chief operating officer Sapna Sood told reporters the company is looking to complete its de-bottlenecking by the end of the second quarter this year.

“We certainly had a project where we were looking at all of that... de-bottlenecking. That is near completion. To be completed at the end of this quarter,” Sood said.

Holcim started a de-bottlenecking its facilities in 2015 as it aimed to increase its cement capacity. The company earlier noted it is spending $40 million over a three-year period for the process.

Sood said at the end of this quarter, the company’s capacity would be around two million metric tons (MT) higher than its 2015 capacity of 8.2 million MT to 10 million MT.

Meanwhile, Sood also expressed optimism not only on their business, but for the cement industry as a whole, given the administration’s thrust on infrastructure development.

“When we look at the country and the infrastructure that is coming in and the commitment that they are making in infrastructure, it is pretty exciting for the country and the industry in terms of how we participate,” Sood said.

In the first quarter of 2017, the cement company reported a 37 percent decline in  net income to P939.36 million from P1.5 billion in the same period the previous year, on the back of lower government spending.

Despite the reduced public spending in the first three months of the year, Sood said the company is still looking forward to the administration’s thrust for infrastructure development as it aims to find solutions to the public sector’s infrastructure needs.

“For us, it’s really about transforming-- not really for the industry [but] to really look for solutions to help the administration’s infrastructure as well,” Sood said.

She cited one instance when the company was tapped by the government to fix a patch of road along EDSA in a span of 24 hours, which it successfully delivered by using its fast-setting concrete called SSQuick.

“And so for us now, it’s about understanding what the administration is committing to in terms of infrastructure and then presenting our solutions in a way that will benefit that and make it faster,” she said.

Moreover, Sood said the cement industry is currently seeing robust demand, which is why a lot of cement companies are starting to invest in increasing its capacity.

“When we look at the role of supply and demand in the country, we certainly at the moment believe that there will be a greater demand than supply,” But that is why we’re seeing right now not just ourselves but also the industry starting to invest,” Sood said.