Industrial conglomerate Siam Cement Group is looking at operating its first cement plant in Vietnam as the next step in the company's expansion abroad, claims Nikkei Asian Review.
President and CEO, Roongrote Rangsiyopash, told reporters in Bangkok on Wednesday that a joint venture or merger with an existing plant would be the best way to enter the Vietnamese market because of the country's current excess capacity.
The Vietnamese market is attaractive to Siam Cement because public and private construction projects are expected to increase, given projections from the World Bank that Vietnam's GDP will grow at more than six per cent for the next three years.
Vietnam is the only southeast Asian country in the Mekong region for which the Thai company currently does not operate cement plants or has plans to. The company has plants in Cambodia and Indonesia, with production lines set to debut in Myanmar in the third quarter of 2016 and Laos in mid-2017.
Vietnam's cement production capacity totals 80Mta while demand equals about 60Mt, said Chaovalit Ekabut, chief financial officer.
Meanwhile, Vietnamese cement producer, Vicem Butson Cement JSC reported production of 2.63Mt of clinker, revenue of VND3031.5bn (135.9m) and profit of VND140bn (US$6.277m) for FY16.
