Kingdom to ‘handle cement need in 2yrs
Kingdom to ‘handle cement need in 2yrs
Four licensed cement factories in the Kingdom produced 3.6 million tonnes of the product in the first nine months of the year. Another two will activate their production lines before December, says the Ministry of Industry and Handicraft.
The ministry said total production from the four factories was 3,671,416 tonnes. They were Kampot Cement with 2.21 million tonnes, Cambodia Cement Chakrey Ting Factory Co, Ltd (1.22 million tones), Chip Mong Insee Cement Corporation (0.119 million tones) and Battambang Conch Cement Company Limited (0.11 million tones).
The two new cement factories which will complete construction by the end of the year are Southern Cement (Cambodia) Co, Ltd and Thai Boon Rong (Cement), said Hort Pheng, the director of the Industrial Affairs Department at the ministry.
Battambang Conch, a joint venture between Conch International Holding (HK) Limited and Battambang KT Cement Co Ltd, officially inaugurated its $230 million factory in Battambang province in June this year. It has a total daily production capacity of 5,000 tonnes.
The company’s CEO, Vinh Hour, said the cement industry currently supplies approximately 70 per cent of market needs. He projected that the Kingdom will be able to handle its own market supply by 2020.
“The production now is 3.6 million tonnes which will be more soon as two other companies will be producing cement in the near future. Currently, we still need to import cement to meet the industry’s needs,” says Director of Industrial Affairs of the Industrial Ministry, Hort Pheng.
“We will be able to handle our own cement market in two years if all cement factories in the Kingdom are fully operating,” Hour said. He estimated the factories’ full production capacity at between six and seven million tonnes.
Although the industry is still importing cement, market price competitiveness has improved for the consumer since local supplies are increasing. The price has fallen from $90 per tonne to $80 per tone currently.
“The market price has decreased by $10 since our local suppliers increased production,” Hour said. He said the quality of locally produced cement is better than that of imported cement.
