Phnom Penh Post
A worker
shovels rice husks that will be used to fire the cement kiln at Siam
City Cement’s plant in Thailand’s Saraburi province, 130km northeast of
Bangkok. Photograph Reuters
Siam City Cement and the Chip Mong Group will co-build a new cement
plant in the Toukmeas district of Kampot by 2015 in order to take
advantage of the “huge” demand in Cambodia.
The plant will cater specifically to the Cambodian market, although they will also consider exporting as well.
The demand primarily comes from the construction sector in its drive
to expand Cambodia’s infrastructure, a reflection of rapid economic
development.
“The demand [for cement] is huge,” said Sok Chantha, public relations manager for the Chip Mong Group.
A memorandum of agreement was signed between the two companies on
December 8 for a feasibility study into a plant with the capacity of 1
to 1.5 million tonnes per year.
The construction of the joint cement plant will take place next year
and is expected to take two and a half to three years to complete.
Although it will cost around $200 million, the expense is not an issue.
Despite the competition this new plant brings to Cambodia’s cement
industry, Ouk Bunseng, deputy plant manager for the Cambodia Cement
Chakrey Ting Factory said he was “not so worried” about a new rival.
“I’m ok,” he said. “[Cambodia] is a free market, so anyone can set up their business here.”
He also cited an investigation his company had conducted, showing an increase in demand of about 14 to 18 per cent.
Good-quality cheap cement is hard to source, however, according to the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation.
“Concrete roads are stronger, but they are [also] more expensive,” director of the Road Department, Nou Vaddhanak, said.
“Because of this, the majority of Cambodia’s roads will be made with asphalt.”
Siam City Cement and the Chip Mong Group’s ambitious million-tonne
per year production plan will place it as one of largest domestic
companies in Cambodia and help the domestic market.
To contact the reporters on this story: Soo Jin Kim at
newsroom@phnompenhpost.com ; May Kunmakara at
kunmakara.may@phnompenhpost.com
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