BANGKOK—Thailand’s leading conglomerate, the Siam Cement Group (SCG), is studying its expansion options in the Philippines despite high production costs.

In a press conference, company president Chaovalit Ekabut said his firm’s expansion in the country may be done through mergers and acquisitions, which would cost less than expanding through greenfield projects.

“We don’t see any problems in the investment climate in the Philippines. The country is not that different from Thailand and is starting to recover and contribute more [to robust growth in the Asean],” said Ekabut.

To date, their companies continue trying to cope with high production costs, he said. Most of its production costs go to transportation and energy costs, which he found “unbelievably high.”

He said that expanding through greenfield projects would cost even more because of the required facilities to be built on top of the production costs. “There may be [problems] but life must go on. Good preparation is needed.”

Ekabut said they have no timetable set for the expansion but the company is already studying which among its existing businesses it would expand. “We are very flexible when it comes to funding sources. SCG in Thailand may supply the funding or borrow at the company level.”

SCG’s businesses in the country include the Philippines’s largest packaging and corrugated paper producer, United Pulp and Paper Co. Inc. (UPPC), as well as Mariwasa Siam Ceramics Inc., CPAC Monier Philippines Inc., and SCT (Philippines) Inc.

SCG has a stake in Mariwasa, which major stockholder is the Coseteng family; CPAC Monier is a manufacturer of concrete roof tiles, fittings and accessories; while SCT is a trading company that supplies energy, industrial supply products and recycling products.

Ekabut said UPPC is projected to post net sales of P4 billion by the end of the year. This is higher than last year’s P3.87 billion, and added this was despite the Philippines’s shrinking exports due to the slowdown in the United States economy and the appreciation of the peso.

Ekabut said only around 10 percent of the company’s production goes to exports and around 90 percent fulfills domestic demand for corrugated boxes.

 UPPC vice president for marketing Suchai Korprasertsri said the company is operating at full capacity of 235,000 metric tons per plant. They also have the largest market share in the Philippines, capturing around 32 percent to 33 percent of the packaging and corrugated paper market.

SCG earlier bought out the share of the Phinma Group in UPPC when the latter decided to restructure its business and focus on real estate and other businesses.

To date, the company owns around 98 percent of UPPC. The company’s main products are linerboard and corrugating medium or corrugated boxes.

THE government admitted that it cannot go all-out for micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) financing due to the country’s current fiscal position and will have to rely more on the private sector to provide lending at this time.

SAN FRANCISCO, California—Filipino organizations here are raising funds to help uplift the lives of poor children in the Philippines but are making sure that the assistance they send reaches the intended beneficiaries.

BANGKOK—Thailand’s leading conglomerate, the Siam Cement Group (SCG), is studying its expansion options in the Philippines despite high production costs.

The Philippines’ palay production for the fourth quarter may grow by 10 percent year-on-year and enable the Department of Agriculture (DA) to reach its target of producing 16.2 million metric tons (MMT) of palay for 2007.

THE Department of Education (DepEd), in partnership with foreign governments and the private sector, has intensified efforts to improve access to quality education and open jobs for children and out-of-school youth in Mindanao, particularly in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).