EVEN with the bullish Build, Build, Build program of the government, Holcim Philippines executive assures that there is no shortage of cement.
During the Habi at Kape press conference at Abreeza Ayala Malls, Holcim Philippines Senior Vice President for Sales William Sumalinog said their plant in Davao City is investing about P1.5 billion to increase their cement capacity in Davao Region to 2.2 million metric tons by 2019 from the current 1.4 million.
This project involves the installation of mechanized ship unloading and loading facility and increasing grinding capacity. He added the project is currently ongoing in their plant.
With this amount Holcim Philippines is dedicated to invest in their Davao plant, Sumalinog said it only shows their confidence of the industry especially with the infrastructure program of the current administration.
“When you look at the scenario, there’s no shortage actually of cement. Also there are many other cement suppliers in Mindanao aside from Holcim Philippines unlike many years back that only Holcim is here in Davao City. Today, you can see a lot of brands in market that you can really use,” said Sumalinog.
He added the two Holcim Philippines plants in Mindanao has a capacity to produce about 350 to 400 kilometers of cement every month equivalent to about 8 to 9 million bags.
For his part, Mindanao Development Authority (Minda) Assistant Secretary Romeo Montenegro said as there are no apparent shortages yet, there is also a continuing rise in the demand for cement and steel. They have yet to foresee up to what end where they see it peaking.
Currently, there are about 60 nationwide infrastructure development projects related to Build, Build, Build and about 14 of this is in Mindanao. Most of those in Mindanao are still in the feasibility study stages and may start construction by next year. Montenegro said the infrastructure projects seen today are mostly of private sectors such as hotels, malls, and real estate projects which still all increases the demand for steel and cement.
“The continuing rise of the demand of these also now offers opportunity for supplier to come in especially with Asean integration, where we are almost free-flowing of almost 99 of the tariff products, then definitely it’s a question of pricing and availability of products,” said Montenegro.