Thai company shelves Kampot cement project
Thailand’s second-largest cement company has suspended a cement-plant project valued at about $200 million in Kampot province because of political uncertainty and better investment opportunities in Myanmar, according to a senior executive.
Philippe Arto, the managing director of Siam City Cement Public Company Limited (SCCC), said on Wednesday that the board of the exchange-listed firm decided to “put on the shelf” the plant, which was expected to produce between one million and 1.5 million tonnes of cement a year to feed the growing demand in Cambodia’s construction sector. …
At the conference on Wednesday, Arto said that the project was “not a priority while we have many things to do in Thailand”, adding that SCCC is also looking at expanding into Myanmar to take advantage of rapid growth there in the cement market.
Shares of SCCC, which is 27.5 per cent owned by Switzerland-based Holcim Ltd, closed at 364 baht ($11.3) yesterday, a drop of 12 baht from the day before.
An agreement to conduct a feasibility study between the Thai cement company and Chip Mong Group, a Cambodian construction supplier, was signed on December 8 of 2010. Construction on the plant was supposed to start in 2011.
Sok Chantha, public relations manager at Chip Mong, said he hadn’t been told about the decision, and said that the companies were still studying the social and environmental impacts. …
Confidence in the economy fell 51 per cent in the post-election period, according to a survey of foreign business leaders working in Cambodia. …
Rann Reuy and May Kunmakara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/thai-company-shelves-kampot-cement-project
