Arif Habib-owned cement maker unveils Rs25 billion expansion plan

KARACHI: Power Cement Limited (PCL), an affiliate of Arif Habib Group, planned to build a Rs25 billion cement factory in Nooribad to raise its production capacity to 3.37 million tons/year, buoyed by the burgeoning demand for China Pakistan Economic Corridor related infrastructure projects, officials said on Wednesday.

Nasim Beg, chairman of PCL told journalists Arif Habib Group would invest 30 percent of the announced outlay, while 70 percent would be debt financing. The new plant will be operational after two years. 

The new plant will have an annual production capacity of 2.47 million tons. The company’s existing plant holds an annual production capacity of 0.9 million tons. 

PCL’s plant is located in Nooribabad industrial area, Jamshoro, 94-kilometre from Karachi. 

“Currently there is a capacity of 3,000 tonnes a day, while the new plant would add 7,700 tonnes a day,” said Beg.

PCL chairman said local cement demand reached to 45 million tonnes per annum. Cement players are establishing new plants.

Together, they will bring another 20 million tonnes in the production line. 

“Such demand was there even before the CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) was announced,” Beg said. “The demand would increase as several industries would flourish along with the CPEC.”

Chief Executive Officer Kashif Habib of PCL said the new plant would use the latest technology of a top international cement equipment supplier FLSmidth.

It would cater to local and international standards, Habib said.

PCL recently installed an environmental-friendly modern efficient bag houses, replacing all the electric precipitators at its existing plant. This up-gradation resulted in achieving much better control of dust emissions. Environment hazards have been reduced with an investment of Rs350 million.

“Arif Habib Group believes in investing in areas which encourage development and augment economic activity by creating jobs while remaining conscious of our social responsibilities,” Beg said.

Director General (DG) Naeem Ahmed Mughal of Sindh Environment Protection Agency (EPA) that said he was happy to know that Arif Habib Group upgraded the plant to prevent environmental pollutions.

Mughal warned the industrialists that any factory, which is found involved in degrading the environment, would be shut down. “Economic development should not be at the cost of environment.” 

DG EPA said factories and transportation are damaging the ecology. In monetary terms, he calculated these loses at an estimated Rs359 billion a year.  

PCL, formerly Al Abbas Cement Industries Limited, was established in 1981 and went public in 1987.

Later, a consortium of Arif Habib Group and Al Abbas Group acquired the cement maker. The company is listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange. 

The company caters to the country’s southern market, while it exports cements to south and east Africa, India, UAE and Afghanistan.