CORON, Palawan – DMCI Holdings, Inc. has plans to invest US$300 million or around P14.8 billion for a cement plant in Semirara Island, the company’s Chairman and President Isidro Consuji said in a briefing here.
Consuji said the cement factory will have an annual capacity of about 2.4 million tons.
DMCI is looking at Semirara for its cement plant as it has one billion tons of limestone reserve, which is one of the raw materials for cement, the top executive mentioned.
DMCI’s unit, Semirara Mining and Power Corp., is also located on the island.
Consuji added that a 40-megawatt power plant will be part of the cement facility since energy cost has the largest share in expenses for cement plant operation.
DMCI Executive Vice President and Chief Finance Officer Herbert Consuji said the low-grade coal from the power plant will also be used as raw material for cement-making.
The EVP and CFO noted that the structure of DMCI’s planned cement facility in Semirara will make its cement competitive in the market.
“We are competitive, in fact, including even [against] imported [cement]. [Against] imported, we can compete because of the location, manpower, and cost of materials,” he said.
The facility will be built in a period of about three years, he added.
Moreover, the DMCI chief said the company aims to sell its cement products in the southern part of Luzon as well as in Western Visayas and Western Mindanao.
