Thailand's largest conglomerate, Siam Cement Group (SCG) has said it is to build a new 1.8Mta plant in Indonesia as it seeks to gain a foothold in this thriving Southeast Asian cement market.

SCG Chief Finance Officer Chaovalit Ekabut said the new plant will be in Sukabumi in West Java with a total investment of US$356m, The Jakarta Post reported Thursday.

"We expect to start construction this year and finish by 2015. We hope to commence operations at this cement plan in the second half of 2015," Chaovalit added.