Conglomerate PHINMA Corp., through its subsidiary Philcement Corp., is investing P2 billion to build a new cement plant in Davao — a move that will strategically expand its cement business.
PHINMA executive vice president for construction materials Eduardo A. Sahagun said during a recent interview that the planned expansion will effectively bring the company’s total cement production capacity to 5 million tons.
Davao plant
“We are putting up a Davao plant, which is similar to the one in Mariveles. It will bring our total capacity somewhere to 5 million ton’s. The project cost is going to be about P2 billion,” Sahagun said.
He informed that the company will secure funding for the project through a combination of internally generated funds and debt financing, similar to the financing model employed for its plant and port facilities in Mariveles, Bataan.
Inaugurated in 2020, Philcement’s facility in Bataan has highly automated equipment that can produce at least 2 million tons of cement to serve the country’s growing demand.
In the mid-1990s, Phinma was a leading player in the cement industry, managing several cement plants with a market share of more than 50 percent.
However, the impact of the Asian financial crisis led the group to exit the industry and instead shift its focus on diversifying its investments into other sectors.
Union Cement
It was only in 2018 when PHINMA strategically returned to the cement business by reviving the Union Cement brand.
PHINMA’s core business is spread across education, construction materials, property development, and hospitality sectors.
For this year alone, the company has initially set a P4.5 billion financial war chest to sustain growth and fund the expansion of various business units.