Holcim Australia, a subsidiary of Switzerland-based building materials company Holcim, has announced plans to lay off 150 staff and mothball up to 30 facilities as part of a review of its Australian operations.
The majority of the closures and lay offs will affect Holcim Australia’s concrete business. “With softer activity and outlook in some of our key markets, we must adjust our business to suit,” Holcim Australia chief executive Mark Campbell said.
Meanwhile, in the Phillipines and Indonesia, Holcim is planning to boost capacity and add more plants.
In the Philippines, the company is set to invest $US350 million to $US450 million to build a new cement plant as demand and sales surged in the third quarter, which is traditionally a weak season for the construction industry because of the monsoon rains.
Getting approval for expansion is the result of a journey started three years ago by Holcim Philippines to convince its Zurich-based headquarters that the market is ready for growth.
In Indonesia, where Holcim is the third-largest cement producer, it will add a plant in East Java in addition to one already under construction as it seeks to meet rising demand in Southeast Asia?s biggest economy.
Holcim Indonesia is spending $US450 million to build the first Tuban plant, which will have an annual capacity of 1.7 million tonnes when it begins operation next year. The second facility will have ?similar? capacity. Holcim Indonesia is 80.6 per cent owned by Swiss giant Holcim.
Sources: Business Spectator, Global Cement Staff, Aggregate Research, Business Week