CEMENT manufacturer Taiheiyo Cement Corporation (TCC) in Tokyo has approved the construction of a new facility for its Cebu unit.
The new production line, estimated to cost P15 billion, will replace the existing production line at Taiheiyo Cement Philippines, Inc. (TCPI) in the town of San Fernando, about 40 kilometers south of Cebu City.
In a statement, the company said the new factory will increase capacity to 6,000 tons, or some three million tons of cement a year by mid-2024, from the current 2,500 tons of clinker per day.
“TCPI will construct a state-of-the-art production facility, incorporating Taiheiyo’s high-level technology and experience to contribute to meeting the strong demand for cement in the Philippines,” the company said.
Taiheiyo said it aims increase production to five million tons per year, representing an estimated 10 percent market share.
The new line will offer significant advantages in terms of energy efficiency and will reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from energy use in clinker production by more than 10 percent compared with the efficiency of the current line, the TCPI said.
The higher quality clinker produced with the new line will enable a reduction in the clinker factor, which will lead to a further CO2 reduction per ton of cement produced, the company added.
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is one of the critical issues for TCC with all its affiliates as declared in its CSR objectives for 2025 and long-term vision of greenhouse gas emissions reduction toward 2050.
“Taiheiyo is committed to continue providing a sense of safety and security to societies in the Pacific Rim by demonstrating the group’s overall capabilities to contribute to social infrastructure development and the delivery of environmentally efficient solutions,” the statement said.
The construction of a new production line was a commitment made by Shuji Fukuda, then TCC president and now chairman of the board, to President Rodrigo Duterte during the latter’s state visit to Japan in October 2017.
Demand for cement in the Philippines was estimated to increase by 30 percent from 2015, reaching 32 million tons by the end of 2019. Taiheiyo contributed seven percent of the output.
Demand shrunk this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, but the October 2020 World Bank East Asia and Pacific Economic Update projected it to rise again with strong gross domestic product (GDP) recovery, estimated at 5.3 percent next year. (Ventures Cebu from PR)