Myanmar: Arr Thit Man plans to double capacity

Myanmar producer Arr Thit Man plans to double its cement output from 5000tpd to 10,000tpd by 2016, according to a report in the Myanmar Times citing senior officials.

The company's plant is based in Kyaukse, Mandalay and it sells cement under the Double Rhinos brand.

"We are a new brand, but we are focused on the quality of cement and fulfilling market demand," said the company's managing director. For the time being, Arr Thit Man plans to focus on meeting growing domestic demand rather than exports.

Growing urbanisation, residential need and the government’s efforts to open up investment and improve the country’s infrastructure base are driving cement demand,  Cement demand is forecast to approach 10Mt by 2016.

Cement production in FY12-13 reached 2.91Mt, according to the Ministry of Construction. State-owned plants produced around 1.48Mt with the balance supplied by private firms. In 2014 domestic output is estimated to have been around 3.7Mt. However, power supply issues and an aging production base mean that capacity utilisation is not particularly high. In the next few years cement prouducers including Siam Cement, Anhui Conch and PT Semen Indonesia are lining up alongside each other to capture market share.