Taiheiyo Cement Increases Investments in PH with New Facility in Cebu

Over the past five years, Taiheiyo Cement Corporation (TCC) has increased its investments in the Philippines, including the construction of a new cement facility in San Fernando, Cebu. On February 10, TCC President and Representative Director Masafumi Fushihara signed a letter-of-intent (LOI) with Philippine Trade Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual, which Philippine President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr. witnessed for 35 deals selected from Japanese enterprises’ projects. The LOI states that Taiheiyo Cement Philippines Inc. (TCPI) plans to expand its operations with a Kiln renewal project that will increase its cement production capacity.

TCC also intends to upgrade the clinker production line, storage silos, and raw material yards to introduce a state-of-the-art production line designed to reduce CO2 emissions from energy use by more than 10 percent. The LOI indicates that TCC, through TCPI, is considering a distribution terminal to facilitate the expansion of its cement sales in the country.

The Taiheiyo Group has already fulfilled its commitment to expand investments in a jetty and marine belt conveyor project, ancillary buildings, and a new production facility at its San Fernando plant. TCPI’s Kiln Renewal Project, which began two years ago and is valued at ¥30 billion (₱12.4 billion), will increase the company’s cement production capacity to three million tons per year.

After TCPI’s old plant is decommissioned and dismantled, the new plant will operate after the project’s completion by mid-2024, with an upgraded clinker production line, grinding facilities, storage silo, and raw material yard. The new state-of-the-art production line is designed to reduce CO2 emissions from energy use by more than 10 percent.

TCC is a union of three major cement manufacturers in Japan, established in 1998. The new conglomerate also operates cement plants in China, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea, and the USA, and by 2003, acquired 100 percent of Grand Cement Manufacturing Corp. (GCMC), which was renamed as TCPI. From GCMC, TCPI used to produce 2,500 tons of clinker per day. The completion of the Kiln Renewal Project will increase its capacity to 6,000 tons of clinker per day, or some three million tons of cement a year by mid-2024.

The company estimated that demand for cement in the Philippines increased by 30 percent from 2015, reaching 32 million tons by the end of 2019, with TCPI contributing seven percent of the demand. After the new manufacturing facilities operate from the second half of 2024, TCPI targets an estimated 10 percent market share, according to TCPI President and CEO Yoshihito Izawa.

The new line will offer significant advantages in terms of energy efficiency and will reduce CO2 emissions from energy use by more than 10 percent compared with the efficiency of the old line. Additionally, it is expected that the higher quality clinker produced with the new line will enable a reduction in the clinker factor and thereby realize a further CO2 reduction per ton of cement produced.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is one of the critical issues for TCC with all its affiliates, as declared in its CSR objectives for 2025 and long-term vision of greenhouse gas emissions reduction toward 2050. TCC is committed to demonstrating the group’s overall capabilities to contribute to social infrastructure development and the delivery of environmentally efficient solutions.