Taiwan: Taiwan Cement, is purchasing Sichuan Railway Group Cement for US$111m to expand its presence in China. Taiwan Cement made the purchase through its subsidiary TCC International Holdings. The Sichuan company's production site has a cement production capacity of 2Mt/yr.
Prior to the purchase TCC International operated two cement plants in Sichuan: one in Guangan with a cement production capacity of 2Mt/yr and the other in Chongqing with a capacity of 4Mt/yr. Following the purchase TCC International will boost its capacity to 8Mt/yr. Taiwan Cement said that the acquisition is expected to create synergies for TCC International, helping the company cut operating costs to improve its bottom line.
TCC International reported a 79.6% rise in net profit to US$134m for the first half of 2014. In addition to the purchase in Sichuan, Taiwan Cement said that TCC International will also add a new production line in its Guizhou plant later in November 2014 to boost its production capacity by an additional 1.5Mt/yr.