Holcim assures no shortage of cement in Mindanao
Holcim Philippines, Inc. has assured a steady supply of commercial cement in Mindanao amidst a record high demand and a never-before-seen boom in construction.
William Sumalinog, Senior Vice President and Head of Sales of Holcim Philippines Inc. said there is no shortage of cement in Mindanao as the company continue to expand its operations and productions throughout Mindanao. According to him, Holcim’s expansion program aims to cater the future growth of Mindanao.
Among the areas being considered for expansion in the near future is Iligan City to compliment the entire Mindanao operations.
“No stock out of cement in Mindanao,” he said.
He said they already finished expanding their Davao plant and will soon start expanding their Lugait Cement Plant in Misamis Oriental.
Sumalinog said expanding operations is also among the company’s ways in taking part in the economic development of Mindanao. Presently, the company has increased its capacity to 1.4 million tons.
“If you go back to where we started in 1966 it is more than 10 times more in terms of capacity and this is because of the commitment of the company on how to support the industry and the growth development of Mindanao,” he said.
As a manifestation of its support to to the construction industry in Davao and Mindanao, Holcim is eyeing to partner with the Davao Constructors Association Center Inc (DCACI).
“We supported them with all the things that are available with Holcim in terms of technical know-how, innovations, new products, and in fact as we said last time we will put up the best laboratory in Mindanao in Davao plant,” Sumalinog said.
Apart from the technical laboratory in Mindanao, Holcim also rolled out a mobile lab in Mindanao.
“These vehicles will go specifically to the projects and support the contractors to use the products with right applications and we continue to develop new products,” he said.
To ensure there is enough reserve of limestones, which is also among the factors being considered for expansions, they are now exploring and developing an area in Sarangani.
“In terms of low term direction, we still have enough.We keep on expanding and we have enough reserve maybe not in the adjacent area of the plant and we have a lot of areas. We have started right now exploring and developing and one of it is Sarangani,” he said.
In terms of demand, Sumalinog said with the development in some major cities right now such as Zamboanga, Dipolog, Butuan and the secondary cities in Mindanao, there is a possibility that Mindanao match Visayas’ market demand. Eventually, Sumalinog said Holcim anticipates a 60-40 demand spread in Luzon and VisMin as market.
He also said looking at the demand spread of the entire country, normally 65% of the demand is in Luzon and 35% in Visayas and Mindanao.
“For so long, Visayas is always bigger than the demand of Mindanao. But for the last three years, we are now bigger than Visayas,” he said.
According to him, Mindanao consumption has now becoming bigger than Visayas except for this year where Holcim slowed down in terms of spending.
“Somehow the demand sharing between Visayas and Mindanao we are now more or less the same or maybe one million higher per month or 12 million bags more for the annual consumption of Visayas versus Mindanao,” he said.
