The sight of tower cranes dominating over China's southwestern skyline is yet another piece of evidence that made Bruno Lafont, chair and CEO of French cement giant Lafarge, thank his company¡¯s foresight to establish a presence in that region eight years ago.
Opportunities in SW China
With so much construction activities going on in the cities of Chongqing, Dujiangyan and Chengdu, demand for building materials particularly cement has hit all-time high.
"These are the places, other than Beijing and Shanghai, where urbanization has taken off at a tremendous pace. Lafarge has been following the region's growth since 2002 where it set up a cement plant (in Dujiangyan) as well as a plasterboard plant (in Chongqing)," Lafont reports.
Lafarge's move to be in the region enabled the company to attain a firm foothold in the market as well as hold leading positions in each of its business line namely: cement, concrete and aggregates, and gypsum.
"In fact, we are now in the process of constructing a third cement production line in Dujiangyan that will increase the plant¡¯s capacity from 2.3 to 5.4 metric tons per year," Lafont says.
Of the new cement plants now under construction around Asia (with total production capacity of 15.6 metric tons), most are located in China where total capacity reaches 10.5 metric tons a year.
"But make no mistake: We are also looking outside China where there is also significant growth. In fact, it is here in Asia where two-thirds of global cement demand will be coming from. This is why outside China we are beefing up India to produce an additional 3.5 metric tons of cement a year and Indonesia to produce an additional 1.6 metric tons a year," Lafont reveals.
Improving operation
As for the rest of its operation in Asia, Lafont says the company is in the process of improving their plant¡¯s operation safety-wise as well as reducing their environmental impact.
"We're happy to report that in the Philippines, Lafarge uses rice husk instead of petroleum coke as fuel. This cuts down the amount of carbon dioxide the plants produce in the process," Lafont says.
Lafarge is present in several industries in the Philippines as it is one of the major producers of cement, gypsum and aggregates.
As one of the three major players in the Philippines' cement industry, Lafarge, through the Republic Cement Group, operates cement plants in Norzagaray in Bulacan, Teresa in Rizal, Cebu and Batangas as well as subsidiary cement companies in Iligan in Lanao del Sur, and aggregates plant in Angono in Rizal.
Its facilities in the country have a total capacity of 5.5 million tons a year.
"We are keenly looking at the Philippines considering that the country has one of the fastest growing population in the region. Increasing population and urbanization goes hand in hand. With urbanization, demand for cement is also expected to increase," Lafont says.
