In a briefing with local and visiting journalists who toured the company’s cement plant in Bacnotan, La Union, Holcim senior vice president Francis Felizardo said the company diversified into the production of concrete last year and it now has two plants producing concrete, one each in Taguig and Parañaque.

A third plant is being eyed in Quezon City.

Concrete is a combination of cement and other materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregates such as gravel, limestone, granite or sand, water and some chemical additives.

Apart from supplying cement to builders and contractors, Felizardo said there was a huge potential in selling scientifically-produced concrete, which is required by customers with more complex requirements.

“Globally, it’s a trend. In most advanced countries, producers of cement and concrete are integrated. In the Philippines, it’s a separate business. We’re the only cement company in the Philippines that has ventured into that,” Felizardo said.

Concrete batching works are done in Holcim’s plants or in mobile mixing trucks, all using a computerized system to ensure faithfulness to an exact recipe.

Holcim’s batching plant in Taguig has a production capacity of 120 cubic meters an hour, while the one in Parañaque can produce 70 cubic meters of concrete an hour. To date, this business is still small compared to Holcim’s cement business but the company plans to increase its contribution to profit and revenue.

Demand for concrete is usually strongest during a boom in commercial construction, such as in building high-rise buildings, infrastructure and shopping malls, especially because it offers a more cost-effective way of constructing slabs, beams and floors compared to using pure steel.

Steel costs about P30 a kilo as against concrete, which costs only P1.8 a kilo, Felizardo said.