KUCHING: Cahya Mata Sarawak Berhad’s Cement Division has achieved another major milestone with the official launch of its new eco-friendly product – the Portland Limestone Cement (PLC).
Officiating the launch was Head of CMS Cement Division, Suhadi Sulaiman accompanied by other senior officials from UNIMAS, CIDB, JKR, SHEDA, consultants, associations, cement dealers and customers.
Suhadi in his opening speech, said: “Today, we are proud to launch our Portland Limestone Cement (PLC). It has always been our intention to give our customers options by offering products that will meet their various requirements and budgets.
“While our flagship product, the Portland Cement 42.5N is an all-purpose product that can be used for all type of structures, the Portland Limestone Cement (PLC) with a strength class of 32.5N is targeted for low-rise concrete structures such as single storey residential, office and commercial buildings. Its high workability and plasticity, makes the PLC ideal for plastering, bricklaying and is less susceptible to cracks during its drying process.
“It can also be used in the construction of drains and rural or kampung roads. We are also quite excited by its potential as a binder for soil stabilisation. As we all know, Sarawak has vast areas with soft soil conditions and this has always present a huge challenge for construction works.
“Early trials done with UNIMAS on soil stabilisation have indicated that the PLC have certain properties which makes it ideal for use in such conditions. The best part of all is that PLC is priced lower than the Portland Cement 42.5N and our hope is that in some small way the PLC will help to make construction in Sarawak more economical.”
The event also included a speaker from UNIMAS, Senior Lecturer and Associate Professor Dr Mohammad Ibrahim Safawi bin Mohd Zain who presented a topic on Lightweight Foam Concrete.
He said: “UNIMAS has been undertaking extensive research on lightweight concrete with the main objective to use it for rural construction and hence the introduction of foam concrete to the local industries in Sarawak is timely, especially in addressing problems related to construction in peat or soft soil.”
The second speaker was Yeo Shih Horng of Concrete Material Consultant (YSH Advanced Engineering & Structures) who spoke on ultra-high performance concrete, which is a class of concrete defined by its exceptionally high strength and durability.
Before the event came to a close, the guests were treated to a product demonstration by the CMS Cement Division’s Quality and R&D team on the application of PLC.
Taking almost 2 years to develop, the Portland Limestone Cement is an eco-friendly product and is manufactured by grinding a special blend of clinker, gypsum and high-quality limestone under stringent quality control. It is ground to a higher fineness resulting in better water retention, cohesiveness and higher workability in mortar and concrete.
This makes the PLC a highly versatile product that will give its users multiple benefits such as better workability, smoother finishing, improved cohesiveness, reduced bleeding, easy to mix, improved slump retention and good flowability.
The PLC will be priced at RM10-12 lower (subject to locations) than the Portland Cement 42.5N, thus allowing its users greater economies.
By offering more options in terms of product types, applications and prices, CMS Cement strives to continue its role since its establishment in 1974 as a strong and reliable supporter of the construction industry and development of Sarawak.
CMS has three cement plants, namely: The Pending Grinding Plant in Kuching, the Mambong Integrated Plant and Bintulu Grinding Plant.
Both the Pending and Bintulu grinding plants have direct access to port facilities enabling CMS to export efficiently and economically both bagged and bulk cement to any location.
Besides the three plants, CMS also has two bulk terminals at Sibu and Miri whereby bulk cement is shipped using dedicated all-weather bulk cement barges each fitted with a fully enclosed dust free pneumatic system and cargo holds fitted with aeration panels and a fluidised transport system.
These investments are part and parcel of CMS’ commitment to ensure uninterrupted supply of cement to the construction industry in Sarawak.
