HeidelbergCement has opened a new cement mill at its plant in the seaport Chittagong in Bangladesh at an investment cost of approximately US$16 million. The ball mill has a grinding capacity of around 0.8 million t. Test runs of the new mill were successfully conducted at the end of 2011 and production started in the first week of January 2012.
Dr Bernd Scheifele, Chairman of the Managing Board, said: “Bangladesh is an interesting market for HeidelbergCement. We expect the need for high quality cement to increase significantly in the coming years, especially due to new government infrastructure projects. With the new mill we are very well prepared for this demand growth. The investment in Bangladesh is part of our long-term strategy to expand our cement capacities in attractive emerging markets by brownfield or greenfield projects.”
The IMF forecasts a GDP growth of 6.1% for Bangladesh this year. The country has one of the lowest per capita cement consumption ratios in the world, but it is also one of the fastest growing markets worldwide.
HeidelbergCement has been active in Bangladesh since 1998 and is one of the largest German investors in the country. The Group operates cement grinding plants in the country’s two most important markets, the capital city of Dhaka and the second largest city Chittagong with 4 million inhabitants.