KUCHING: CMS Cement Sdn Bhd (CMS Cement) has announced plans to intensify its investments in Sarawak.
During a media briefing yesterday, parent company Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd (CMS) group managing director Dato Richard Curtis explained that the company is currently rolling out various investment plans slated for full completion in 2016.
“These investment plans will increase the company’s production capacity and enhance its operational efficiencies and production quality,” Curtis said.
According to him, the company will be investing RM60 million to beef up its Pan-Sarawak distribution capabilities. This development phase will see the construction of a third bulk cement barge to enhance distribution activity.
He said the company is currently operating two terminal bulks in Kuching and Bintulu. With the additional infrastructure, bulk cement delivery times is also expected to be shortened.
“We will also build a large scale cement silo at our Kuching plant to increase storage capacity by 4,000 tonnes and we have plans to construct an additional inline packer in Bintulu to improve capacity to produce bag cement,” he said.
Curtis said another RM200 million will be invested to construct a one-million metric tonne cement grinding facility, which will boost surface capacity in addition to the company’s two existing plants which will continue to meet the state’s needs.
“This plant will service inter-land Kuching, and part of Kuching, leaving the current Kuching plants to focus on the export of cement to other parts of Sarawak such as Sibu, Miri, Bintulu, Samalaju and the hinterland areas surrounding the hydro dams,” he said.
Curtis also said that the new plant is expected to perk up the production capacity to about 2.6 million tonnes per year.
“We have the window of growth to take into account the state’s increasing demand. We expect that in 2018, demand will continue to grow by four to five per cent per year, assuming that the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (Score) continues on the same upward trajectory,” he added.
CMS Cement, CMS Clinker Sdn Bhd and CMS Concrete Products Sdn Bhd executive director and chief executive officer Goh Chii Bing told reporters that the new plant is in its final tendering stage and is set for completion in 2016.
“We should be able to start awarding out tender jobs by the first half of this year,” he said.
The company is also looking at plans to refurbish and upgrade its main jetty in Kuching to improve its ability to handle the export of bulk cement and the import of raw materials.
Meanwhile, on the import of clinker, Curtis said the company will continue importing clinker instead of establishing a new clinker plant as there is no large scale demand for it yet.