Big Boss Cement Inc. (BBCI) looks to spend P10 billion for two cement plants in Pampanga and Zamboanga.
Gilbert Cruz, BBCI president, said the company is building a total of four cement lines in Pampanga while a sister company, which Cruz failed to name, is building two lines in Zamboanga del Norte.
Both firms are owned by the same shareholders led by BBCI chairman Henry Sy Jr.
Cruz said the group will be spending a total of P7 billion for the Pampanga plant and P3 billion for the Zamboanga plant.
“The Pampanga plant is more expensive because it includes prototypes as the firm was perfecting its technology,” he said.
Each line has a capacity of one million bags of cement a month and BBCI has completed two lines in Pampanga with two more lines to be finished by the first quarter next year for a total capacity of 4 million bags, Cruz added.
The group will complete the first production line in Zamboanga around November at a cost of P1.5 billion and will soon be investing another P1.5 billion for the next line. Cruz noted there is no cement manufacturing plant in Zamboanga.
The completion of the second line in Pampanga allows the company to offer bulk cement. BBCI has just launched two bulk cement products that will cater to the ready mix concrete (RMC) market as well as for precast applications.
“We see a lot of potential in the market for bulk cement that is environment-friendly and guarantees a minimum strength of 40 MPa (mega Pascal),” said Cruz.
“Highly industrialized countries like the United States and most countries in Europe use cement which are 40 MPa and above allowing for more sturdy and durable buildings, houses, bridges and roads,” he added.
BBCI uses a patent pending cement manufacturing process called G-ASH (Grinded Activated Sand by Heating) that enables it to produce a binding material for concrete that uses less clinker. The production of clinker is a major contributor to global air pollution.
It replaces clinker with substitute materials that result in a product that is not only more environment friendly but stronger and more durable.
“We are trying to change the rules of the game and we are confident that our product is a game changer. During a recent global cement conference I attended, we were able to establish that no other company in the world is doing what we are doing which says a lot about Filipino ingenuity,” Cruz said.
BBCI last Friday unveiled two bulk cement products that aim to strengthen its foothold in the local cement industry: B40 High Early Strength which caters to the RMC market and B43 Diamond to be used for precast applications.
The company said this comes on the heels of the success of its breakthrough product, the Big Boss Type 1P: Super Tough Cement.
