To arrive at Cam Pha Cement’s (CPC) plant in Quang Ninh province, Vietnam, you must first pass through the UNESCO world heritage site of Halong Bay – or literally ‘where the dragon descends to the sea’ – whose dramatic coastline landscape is scattered with thousands of limestone islands, formed around 340m years ago during the Carboniferous period, and rightly recognised as one of the wonders of the world.
The north of Vietnam is also the location for the majority of the country’s integrated cement plants, as it is here that large deposits of high-quality limestone are available in abundance for cement manufacture.
When approaching CPC from Halong in the southwest, the first sign of the plant is the sight of the covered belt conveyor, as it crosses the highway several km from the plant, transporting limestone to the factory from the quarry. The plant itself is nestled between the limestone hills and against the shoreline of the South China Sea.
