BANGKOK: Thailand's Siam Cement Pcl plans to build a 12.4 billion baht ($388 million) fully integrated cement plant in Myanmar as part of its drive to tap strong demand for construction materials in Southeast Asia.
The facility would be Siam Cement's first in Myanmar and will have annual capacity of 1.8 million tonnes, the company said in a statement. The plant is expected to start production by mid-2016.
Siam Cement, Southeast Asia's second largest cement maker, is also building production facilities in Indonesia and Cambodia to feed growing demand from a region that is home to some of the world's fastest growing economies and frontier markets.
Cement demand in Myanmar is expected to increase by 10 percent a year for the next five years. Last year, Siam Cement accounted for more than 40 percent of the 4 million tonnes of cement that Myanmar used.
Siam Cement is 30 per cent owned by the Thai royal family's investment arm, the Crown Property Bureau.
At 0345 GMT, Siam Cement shares were unchanged at 414 baht, while the overall market was 0.85 per cent higher.
Myanmar lies on the crossroads of two of the world's great civilizations – China and India . Its culture is a blend of both interspersed with Myanmar native traits and characteristics. Buddhism has great influence on... ... More