The production of cement at the Saravane cement factory, Laos, will start at the end of this year, according to a local source.  The construction of the factory has so far been 70 per cent completed and will be trialed for operations soon.  The local source also said the Saravane cement factory construction is the result of a contract between the Lao Government and the Zhongya Yuxic Cement Lao Company of China, signed on 28 February, 2002. 
 
The US$20m project with 100 per cent investment from Zhongya Yuxic Co. commenced in mid-June, 2004, and is slated to run for the next 34 years with a production capacity of 200,000tpa of cement.   The President of Zhongya Yuxic said last week that the construction of the factory was nearly completed. The factory is built over 20 hectares of land and has a permanent water supply and electricity system.  
 
According to the President, the cement plant construction has exceeded the target plan as some of the work was not correctly implemented based on the original plan, with delated transportation in the construction process. The factory is located 25km from the main Saravane town, and the road connecting between factory and town is of poor quality.