Malaysia: Cement manufacturer CMS Cement Sdn Bhd, a Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd subsidiary, will invest in a third cement grinding plant that will boost its installed capacity by 1Mt/yr to 2.75Mt/yr.
Cahya Mata group managing director, Datuk Richard Curtis, said that the plant would be adjacent to CMS Cement's clinker plant in Mambong, Jalan Penrissen. "We are now evaluating tenders for the project. It is expected to be ready by 2016 to support Sarawak's future growth and development," said Curtis. He said that the new plant, which would be integrated with the clinker plant, would serve the needs of Kuching and its hinterland while the existing plant at Pending would cater for other towns in Sarawak when the new factory was commissioned.
CMS Cement recorded sales of 1.67Mt of bulk and bagged cement in 2013. Curtis said the company's cement sales were estimated to increase to 1.72Mt in 2014 and that the company might import 0.20Mt, which was lower than the 0.27Mt imported in 2013. Once the third grinding plant is operational, the company will be able to address any production disruptions when one of the plants is shut down for maintenance.
CMS Cement will invest US$18.1m on the new plant, a third bulk cement barge to improve distribution capability, a 4000t cement silo to increase storage capacity and an inline packer for the Bintulu grinding plant to beef up capacity for bagged cement.
