Eagle Cement ready to take on growing cement demand in PH

Eagle Cement ready to take on growing cement demand in PH

The country’s only Filipino-owned cement company Eagle Cement Corporation (ECC) sees the most opportune time to grow and support the continuously increasing demand for cement in the Philippines, as the country is now in the middle of an infrastructure boom.

Dubbed as “The Golden Age of Infrastructure”, the government and the private sector have lined up a robust portfolio of infrastructure projects from airports, rail lines, bridges, roads, and buildings. This activity has led to a domestic cement consumption of 26 million metric tons of cement in 2016, the highest recorded since 2005.

The continued upswing in infrastructure projects is expected to continue, following a projected GDP growth of 6.5-7.5% this 2017. And through the completion of a new production line in its Bulacan plant and the planned construction of a new plant and marine terminals in the Visayas-Mindanao region, ECC is gearing up for greater capacities to serve the public.

This move by ECC couldn’t have come at a better time, as local infrastructire activity calls for increased production of cement. The industry had a shortfall of 3.7 million metric tons of cement, after only delivering 22.2. million metric tons in the past year.

To provide additional supply, ECC is now in the middle of constructing a third production line in its Bulacan plant. Lauded as the country’s newest and largest single-site plant, it employs state-of-the-art facilities in its operations which currently runs with two production lines. Currently, it has two lines with a combined capacity of 5.1 million metric tons of cement per annum.

Once the third line is finished by the first quarter of 2018, ECC’s capacity will increase by 2 million metric tons, bringing the company’s total production capacity to 7.1 million metric tons every year, and will solidify ECC as the market leader in terms of capacity.

Apart from its Bulacan plant expansion, ECC is now in the middle of an IPO process to raise up to P9.2 billion to partially finance the construction of a new plant in Cebu. It is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2020. ECC is also planning to build marine terminals around the Visayas-Mindanao region so it can deploy more products and accommodate growing cement demand in the said region which stands at 8.4 million metric tons.

According to the company, the Philippines has one of the lowest average consumption of cement per capita, at 212 kilograms per person. The GDP-cement consumption ratio is a standard measure of a country’s stage of development, and the Philippines is still far from the 600-900 kilograms per capita threshold. Coupled with the private sector and government’s numerous infrastructure projects, demand for cement is expected to increase continuously.

It may be the youngest player market, but since its commercial operations began in 2010, ECC has already managed to become the country’s fourth largest cement company in terms of sales volume. With its solid expansion strategy, ECC is poised to help meet the country’s increasing demand. ECC is now well on its way of domination, amplifying Filipino pride with a cause to serve the nation.

Founded in 1995 and commencing commercial operations in 2010, Eagle Cement Corporation (ECC) operates the newest and single largest cement manufacturing plant in the Philippines. ECC is engaged in the business of manufacturing, marketing, sale and distribution of cement, using the brands Eagle Cement Advance Type 1P, Eagle Cement Exceed Type 1P, and Eagle Cement Strongcem Type 1.