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By Katrina Mennen A. Valdez, Reporter
The Consolidated Industries Gas
Inc.- Southern Industrial Gases on Thursday said it is set to pour
in a P1.3-billion investment in the Philippines for its expansion
projects to cater to the growing demand for industrial and medical
gases.
A member of Munich-based Linde
Group of Companies, and the local leading producer of industrial and
medical gases, Consolidated-Southern announced it will invest a
total of P1.3 billion for its Laguna and Cebu plants this year.
Sanjiv Lamba, managing director
of Linde Group for South and East Asia, said the bulk of the
company’s income from Asia comes from the Philippines, and Linde
has decided to expand its presence in the country due to its highly
qualified workforce, upbeat market, and impressive government
support given to it.
“[We] are very happy with [our]
investment here. Everything is perfect except for the very expensive
energy cost, which accounts for the 60 percent of [our] total
operational cost,” Lamba added.
The company has invested P300
million to upgrade and expand its air separation plant in Sta. Rosa,
Laguna.
“The Sta. Rosa plant will
mainly serve the growing demand of the electronics and semiconductor
[sectors], and for various chemical gases,” Dennis Jordan,
Consolidated-Southern managing director, told a briefing.
The P1-billion investment will be
infused in Cebu for another air separation plant.
These investments will be the
Linde Group’s single biggest investment in southern Philippines.
Jordan said they will start the
construction of the Cebu plant in August, and is expected to be
operational in 2010.
“Though [we] already have an
existing plant in the Visayas and Mindanao, this plant will serve
the growing needs of the industrial plants and medical firms in the
Visayas and Mindanao,” he added.
Last year, the company’s
revenue stood at P2.1 billion from its existing Pampanga and Laguna
plants. It is eyeing a 10-percent growth in 2008.
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