Thailand's Siam cement to build 358 mln USD plant in Indonesia

Xinhua
2012-10-25

Siam Cement, Thailand's biggest cement producer, plans to invest more than $350 million for the construction of a cement plant in West Java as part of its efforts to expand in the region, local media reported on Thursday.

The 11 billion baht (about 358 million) Indonesian cement plant is one of its three projects across Southeast Asia, the Bangkok- based company said in a statement released on Wednesday. The other projects include a cement packaging plant in Thailand and expansion of a cement plant in Cambodia.

"The board of directors has approved several new investment projects, totaling 23,200 million baht in the cement and paper businesses. These investments are in accordance with Siam Cement's strategy to become an Asean sustainable business leader," the statement said.

The Indonesian cement plant is expected to have total estimated annual production at 1.8 million metric tons.

"This green-field investment is expected to start up in mid- 2015 and will include the latest waste-heat power generator system for reduced electrical consumption," the company said.

Siam Cement says that demand in Indonesia's cement market is estimated at 54 million tons in 2012, with expected annual growth at 5 percent to 10 percent in the next 10 years.

Infrastructure projects such as roads, airports and seaports should boost demand for building materials including cement.

Siam Cement's local competitors are Semen Gresik, Holcim Indonesia and Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa.

The Thai company's expansion in Indonesia is part of its $754 million investment project in cement and paper, the Jakarta Globe reported.

Around $179 million will be used to build a second cement line with a capacity of 900,000 tons in Cambodia.

"This second line will be located in the existing cement facility in Kampot, which is Cambodia's first cement plant and has been in operation since mid-2007," the company, adding that the remainder would go to expand its packaging operations in Thailand.