Cement maker China Resources Cement Holdings will expand its Dongguan plant in a bid to fill the vacuum left by the closure of competitors under the city’s stringent environmental standards. The company will spend 50 million yuan to increase the plant’s annual production capacity to two million tonnes by next year from 1.3Mt Of Dongguan’s 48 cement makers, all but China Resources Cement would be forced to shut by next year, said vice-chairman and general manager Shi Shanbo.
"Only our company’s plant was allowed to continue to operate because it meets the city’s environmental requirements," Mr Shi said. The Dongguan expansion is part of the company’s plans to increase its annual cement production capacity to more than 10Mt in three years from 3.3Mt. In Guangxi province, the company will invest 1.3 billion yuan on the construction of a plant with daily production capacity of 10,000t It will also spend more than 160 million yuan to acquire a 73.5 per cent stake in Guangxi China Resources Pingnan Yufeng Cement, which has a daily production capacity of 5000t
Dongguan produced 8Mt of cement last year. This compares with Guangdong’s 80Mt and the national output of about 862Mt, China Resources Cement sells mainly to the Pearl River Delta region and Hong Kong. Mr Shi expected that mainland sales would continue their growth momentum as the region’s fixed asset investment registered a 28.7 per cent growth, which compared with the national average of 26 per cent. He also expected sales in Hong Kong to pick up on the back of economic recovery. The company was formed on March 13 last year and floated on the Hong Kong stock market in July.
