RP to set up cement plant

RP to set up cement plant

MANILA (Reuter): A firm partly owned by Japanese businessman Mitsuyasu Kimori plans to build a seven billion-peso cement plant in Batangas, south of Manila, according to a filing with the Board of Investments (BoI).

F & T Mining Corp said it would set up the plant on a 40- hectare site next to a 530-hectare mineral reserve that would provide raw materials for the plant.

It said the plant would be able to make 1.5 million tonnes a year of cement, to be sold on the islands of Luzon and Visayas.

The firm said 4.13 billion pesos, 60 percent of the project's total cost, would be funded through foreign loans, and 40 percent from the company's equity.

The cement plant is expected to start operating in 1999 and to employ at least 530 people.

Philippine businessmen Samuel Floro, Nathaniel Floro and Alexander Floro also have stakes in F & T.