Cemex subsidiary gets BOI nod as new cement maker

Cemex Holdings Philippines Inc.’s wholly-owned subsidiary has secured the Board of Investments’ (BOI) approval as a new manufacturer of cement.

Solid Cement Corp. was informed about the approval on January 30, Cemex Philippines said in a regulatory filing submitted by compliance officer Jannette Sevilla on Thursday.

BOI gave Solid Cement’s integrated production line “pioneer status” but with non-pioneer incentives.

The factory has a production capacity of 1.5 million metric tons a year, and is in Antipolo City, Rizal.

The BOI declares an area of investment as “pioneer” if the activity involves:

• manufacturing or processing and not merely assembling or packaging goods or raw materials that have not been produced in the country on a commercial scale

• design, formula, scheme, method, process or system of production or transformation of any element or raw material or finished good that are new and untried

• agricultural activities, or services, essential to the achievement of the country’s self-sufficiency program

• production of non-conventional fuels or manufacturing equipment using non-conventional sources of energy

• conformity to other specific criteria as provided for in the annually drawn Investments Priorities Plan

An investment with non-pioneer incentives is exempt from paying income tax for four years from the start of commercial operations.

Cemex Philippines is investing $225 million for Solid Cement’s expansion project.

The plan is to expand Solid Cement’s production line to 3.4 million MT per year. —Ted Cordero/VDS, GMA News