Lanwa Sanstha Cement to start operations in June with $ 80 m investment

Minister of Ports and Shipping Rohitha Abeygunwardena and State Minister – Aviation and Export Zones Development D.V. Chanaka along with Lanwa Sanstha Cement Corporation Chairman Nandana Lokuwithana, during a visit to the factory nearing completion 

• Slated to be country’s largest featuring advanced European technology end-to-end
• Investment in two phases
• Full capacity to be 3.6 m metric tons

 State-of-the-art cement manufacturing facility Lanwa Sanstha Cement Corporation Ltd., which is slated to be one of the largest in the region, is scheduled for commissioning in June 2021. The facility, spread across 63 acres, is in the Mirijjawila Export Processing Zone, Hambantota. 

A Board of Investment (BOI) approved venture, the investment for Phase 1 of project was $ 70 million and the production capacity of same is estimated to be 2.4 million Metric Tons per annum. In the second phase, a further investment of $ 10 million will be infused to the project whereby the production capacity will expand by another 1.2 million MT. 

One of the highlights of the facility will be the emphasis on latest technology where all mixing will be carried out with latest German-made Gebr Pfeiffer machinery while most of the other equipment used throughout the production process has been customised by the world-renowned pioneer in innovation, Siemens. Packaging is done using FLSmidth state-of-the-art technology for improved efficiency and minimal wastage. 

Lanwa Sanstha Cement Chairman Nandana Lokuwithana said: “This facility will serve to benefit the construction industry tremendously by delivering products of premium quality to the market. The plant is the first of its kind in Sri Lanka utilising cutting-edge European technology to yield optimum outcomes while being environmentally conscious through continuous monitoring.”

The manufacturing facility features a fully automated stacker reclaimer yard and two bridge type ship unloaders, a breakthrough in cargo handling shifting from labour-intensive to tech-oriented, aligning local industry with global trends. 

Lanwa Sanstha Cement will have a storage capacity the equivalent of three cargo ships and an impressive 2.4km covered conveyer belt for transportation of raw materials from port to plant with increased efficiency, no wastage and zero pollution which sets the precedent for other enterprises too in manufacturing to preserve nature by working smarter. All these features are new to Sri Lanka and only available at a handful of such facilities regionally. 

Lanwa Sanstha Cement is expected to meet the requirements of all major construction projects locally including Port City and Expressways once commissioned, manufacturing the entire gamut of blended cement products including Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), Portland Slag Cement (PSC) and Portland Limestone Cement (PLC).

Lanwa Sanstha Cement Ltd. is a sister company of Sri Lanka’s foremost manufacturer of steel, Ceylon Steel Corporation Ltd., which manufactures a host of products including QT bars, hot dipped galvaniSed pipes (GI pipes), box bars, round tubes, wire nails, MS rods, purlins and meshes under the ‘Lanwa’ brand. 

A respected entrepreneur of international standing, Lanwa Sanstha Cement Corporation Ltd. Chairman Nandana Lokuwithana also heads the Onyx Group in the UAE, Marriot Al Jadaf Hotel in Dubai, Marangoni Industrial Tyres Lanka Ltd. and Rigid Tyre Corporation Ltd. in Horana of which Phase 1 is due for completion in January 2021.

Factory nearing completion