Philcement Corporation, a 60 percent-owned subsidiary of the Del Rosarios’ PHINMA Corporation, has sealed an agreement with Petra Cement Inc. that will allow it to produce cement for the Northern Mindanao market.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, PHINMA said Philcement and Petra Cement, Inc. have  signed a Manufacturing and Sale Agreement to enable Philcement to operate the Petra Plant, and to manufacture and produce, distribute and sell cement products. 

Petra Cement is the sister company of Big Boss Cement which was founded by its President Gilbert Cruz and counts Henry Sy Jr. among its top investors.

The Petra Plant is located in President Manuel A. Roxas, Zamboanga del Norte and comprises a cement grinding facility with a capacity of 500,000 metric tons per annum which will best serve the growing and dynamic Northern Mindanao market. 

“This is aligned with Philcement’s growth strategy and its promise to assure Filipino consumers with reliable, high quality supply of cement products under its legacy brand, Union Cement,” PHINMA said.

Philcement is engaged in the manufacture, importation, processing, distribution, and sale of cement products. It currently operates a cement processing facility in the Freeport Area of Bataan in Mariveles.

Opened in 2020, the P1-billion state-of-the-art cement and highly automated port facilities and equipment of Philcement has an initial annual capacity of two million tons of cement.

PHINMA President a Ramon del Rosario said the  domestic cement output is inadequate to meet the demand so the entry of PhilCement in the industry will help fill the gap.

Del Rosario said they were fortunate to be able to get together with one of the world’s largest exporter of cement from Vietnam, which he said had a facility for “very well-secured to export” cement-like in Mariveles.

“PhilCement in Mariveles is only one of its kind and also the largest independent cement bulk terminal in the whole world,” he said.  Philcement has also revived the Union brand for its cement.