China: Sumitomo Osaka Cement intends to increase cement production by 80% in China's Yunnan Province by 2016. The Japanese cement producer has been making cement in Yunnan Province since 2007 in partnership with a local steelmaker and a Hong Kong construction materials company. That operation involves four plants, each run by a separate joint-venture firm.
With infrastructure investment still active in Yunnan, the plan is to build two more cement plants with a combined production capacity of 6.4Mt/yr. This will make the operation the province's largest, with a capacity of 14.6Mt/yr.
The first new plant will be built in December 2014 and the second in 2016. Sumitomo Osaka Cement will invest around US$42m for its share of the project.