Lafarge reopens plant in Danao City

CEBU, Philippines - French cement firm Lafarge Republic Inc. (LRI) reopened its 47-year-old plant here in northern Cebu, riding on the country's upswing growth in the construction sector.

The plant reopening will provide an added capacity to supply an additional one million tons of cement per year starting first half of 2013. 

Specifically, LRI is starting to supply an additional 200 kilotons of cement per year in Luzon, 650 kilotons per year in Visayas, and another 100 kilotons per year in Mindanao.

"This significant milestone  is one of the many that we have been working on to ensure our commitment to support the increasing investments into private, government and public -private-partnership (PPP) construction projects throughout the Philippines, especially in the Northern Mindanao and the Visayas areas," said Don H. Lee, Lafarge Holdings  (Philippines), Inc. President and Director for LRI.

According to Lee, the re-commissioning of its Danao facility, which is the 7th operating plant of the company in the Philippines, enables the company to be flexible and to serve the growing demand especially during non-peak periods.

"We listened to the wise advice of our trusted customers and partners who had the foresight to recommend an increase in our capacity within the region to support their dreams for double-digit growth in cement sales," Lee added.

French Ambassador to the Philippines Gilles Gerachon and LRI President Renato Sunico led the ribbon cutting ceremony yesterday.

Other investments of LRI to increase its cement production include the debottlenecking of its mill at its Norzagaray Plant in Bulacan.

"LRI is firmly committed to supporting the ambitious growth targets of the government and the private sector. We will never cease our efforts to be the most trusted cement brand for every Filipino, helping build green communities for the better quality of life," Lee said.

Located in 64 countries with a total of 68,000 employees to date, Lafarge is a world leader in building materials, with top-ranking positions in cement, aggregates and concrete businesses.

In  2011, Lafarge posted sales of 15.3 billion Euros.

The Danao cement facility was established in 1960, known as Universal Cement, which operated for 15 years. 

In 1998, Lloyd Richfield Industries Corporation acquired the facility and renamed it as Republic Cement, until the company was also taken over by the Lafarge Group in 2007.

Lafarge’s overall capacity in its five plants including Danao, can produce an average of 4.5 million to five million tons a year.

The Philippines’ total demand for cement in 2012 reached 18 million tons, a bigger jump from 15 million tons in 2011. /JMD (FREEMAN)