Holcim Vietnam on December 9 inaugurated its new concrete plant in Cat Lai in southern Ho Chi Minh City’s District 2.  The factory, capitalized at $3 million, covering 15,000m2, has the capacity of 120m3 an hour.   The Holcim joint venture is one of the leading cement producers in Vietnam. It currently operates two cement grinding plants in Ho Chi Minh City and Ba Ria Vung Tau province, and a cement plant in Kien Giang province, with combined annual capacity of 3.6Mt of cement.  
 
Holcim Vietnam sold 2.4Mt of cement in 2004. It expects to produce and sell 3.6Mt of cement in 2007.  
 
Established in 1994 as a 65:35 joint venture between the Holcim Group of Switzerland and the Ha Tien 1 Cement Co., the company has four times increased its investment capital, starting from $233.8m to the current capital of $441m.