Holcim pouring in $300 million to expand cement capacity

MANILA, Philippines — Holcim Philippines is pouring in $300 million to expand its Bulacan and Misamis Oriental manufacturing plants.

The expansion will raise the company’s annual cement production capacity by 30 percent to 13 million metric tons by 2020.

It forms part of the company’s phase 2 capacity expansion program.

The first phase involves the expansion of the La Union plant, which Holcim completed ahead of schedule.

The expansion will enhance Holcim’s capacity to meet the fast-growing North Luzon market.

Holcim completed the installation of new grinding equipment and storage facilities in its plant in Bacnotan, La Union.

This will  increase the annual cement production capacity of the plant by 80 percent to around 1.8 million tons.

Holcim Philippines president and chief executive officer John Stull said the increased capacity of the plant enables the company to better support the development of North Luzon.

“This project is proof of our commitment to support our customers as construction activity picks up with the government’s Build, Build, Build program. With our expansion and efficiency initiatives, we can better provide a reliable supply of high-quality cement to help our partners advance the region’s development,” Stull said.

Latest government data showed that two of the three regions in North Luzon outpaced the national economic growth rate in 2017, led by the Cordillera Administrative Region, which topped the other 16 regions and whose construction industry grew 23.6 percent.

Holcim also has cement manufacturing facilities in Davao.  It is a member of the LafargeHolcim Group, the world leader in the building materials industry present in 80 countries with over 80,000 employees.