JAPANESE FIRM TO BUILD P 3 .9-B CEMENT TERMINAL IN BATANGAS

The local unit of Japanese firm Taiheiyo Cement Corp. is looking to set up a new 10-billion yen (P3.9-billion) distribution terminal in Calaca, Batangas to better serve Luzon, the country’s largest cement consuming area.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on Tuesday said that the planned facility of Taiheiyo Cement Philippines, Inc. (TCPI) would supply 700,000 tons of cement annually.

To date, TCPI is headquartered in Cebu and is targeting an annual sales volume of 5 million tons and a local market share of 10 percent by 2030.

The DTI said that the cement company would also upgrade its main facility in San Fernando, Cebu, by constructing a kiln renewal plant, which would increase its current local production capacity to 3 million tons per year.

The plant will also reduce carbon emissions from its energy consumption by 10 percent, said the government agency.

Overall, TCPI’s expansion is expected to create 2,000 new jobs, according to the DTI.

Special Trade Representative Dita Angara-Mathay, commercial counselor of the Philippine Trade and Investment Center in Tokyo, said that the Japanese firm had a good track record in keeping their investment commitments in the Philippines.

“The company’s latest announcement materializes their plans to expand to Luzon from their long-time base in the Visayan region,” she said in a statement.

The DTI said further that the Japanese company’s expansion was in line with the Marcos administration’s “Build, Better, More” program wherein 6 percent of the country’s gross domestic products would ill be allocated to infrastructure spending.

The government-initiated Philippine Construction Industry Road Map also envisions P130 trillion worth of business to be generated between 2020 and 2030.