After a long process of research and development involving million-dollar investments, Taiheiyo Cement Philippines is now all set to launch its newest product, the Grand Premium, a Type 1P prime quality Portland cement with Philippine tuff.
Grand Premium is boasted as being the new alternative of Portland cement as its quality is said to surpass both the Philippine national standard and American standard requirement for Portland cement (Type 1).
Taiheiyo Cement Philippines Inc. (TCPI) president and CEO Toshio Komatsu said in a recent press launching that the new cement product is their company’s answer to the call for more cost-efficient and energy saving construction products that will not only lessen their company’s production cost but will also be affordable to the market.
“We want to create sustainable development in the industry and achieve a harmonized environment and community. The main concern right now is global warming so we have manufactured this new energy-saving product to reduce our energy consumption but at the same time maintain the good quality that will satisfy the requirements of our clients,” Komatsu stressed.
In terms of market share, Komatsu said that they are looking at growing share for environmentally-friendly construction products as the market gets wiser and more environment-conscious so there is huge optimism that Grand Premium cement will generate huge demand in the Philippine market.
TCPI’s assistant plant manager for the operations division Teodorico A. Funtanar explained that Grand Premium made them save more on their energy cost because they have brought down their consumption of “clinker,” which is used for the manufacture of Portland cement.
Clinker is the solid material produced by the cement kiln stage that has sintered into lumps or nodules and to produce it, there is a need to burn a lot of fuel that requires the use of electric energy, said Funtanar.
In terms of clinker content, Funtanar explained that Portland cement contains clinker as high as 95 percent while Grand Premium only contains 70 to 75 percent.
“Grand Premium addresses the concern on global warming and CO2 emission because it has brought a lot of savings in our production cost as we have brought down our energy consumption,” he said.
Meanwhile, senior marketing manager George L. Uy discussed that Grand Premium cement is not only TCPI’s answer to the challenge of the rising consumption of energy and the increasing market awareness on “green” advocacies but also help lessen the burden of the market brought by the rising prices in construction materials.
In terms of pricing, Uy said that Grand Premium is reasonably priced lower by around five pesos to that of Portland cement and just a little higher than Pozzolan cement.
Uy said that the new product has been market tested last August in the whole Visayas and at this point, it has already generated positive reception from their consumers.