Siam Cement Pcl has doubled its forecast for cement sales growth this year. The company is expected to benefit government projects and the private property sector, and growth should continue in 2013, Reuters reported Chief Executive Kan Trakulhoon as saying.

"Cement demand is expected to reach 35Mt this year, which is the highest since 1996," Kan told reporters, referring to the year before the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

The company recently announced that it plans to spend THB11bn on a new cement plant in Indonesia and THB5.5bn on an expansion of its cement business in Cambodia.