From left: INSEE Cement CEO Nandana Ekanayake, INSEE Cement Head of Projects Anil Kumara, Ports and Shipping Deputy Minister Nishantha Muthuhettige, Galle Port Residence Manager Sujeewa Wimalasiri and INSEE Cement Director Cement Industrial Performance Aridavid Lozano Estrada 

Entering an important new phase in the company’s history, INSEE Cement laid the foundation stone and commenced building a US $ 14 million vertical cement grinding plant in 
Galle recently.

The foundation stone was placed by Port and Shipping Deputy Minister Nishantha Muthuhettige, Galle Port Residence Manager Sujeewa Wimalasiri together with INSEE Cement officials. 

INSEE Cement CEO Nandana Ekanayake said, “The new plant will be the first vertical cement grinding plant in the Southern Province and also for the company. It is the company’s first big investment since the acquisition in Sri Lanka by Siam City Cement Public Company. This is another milestone in our ambitious mission to build and contribute to the nation’s 
future prosperity.” The plant will be completed by 2018 and will have an annual capacity of 450,000 tonnes of cement. The company will further invest US $ 3 million in initiatives to safeguard the surrounding environment with assistance from the Sri Lanka 
Ports Authority. The Board of Investment (BOI), Sri Lanka Customs, Sri Lanka Police, Sri Lanka Navy, Environment Authority and the local authorities will also play an important role providing close collaboration and guidance to this important endeavour that will result in increased production volumes, contributing to the national economy.  

A 20-member cross-functional team at INSEE Cement, combining business operations such as manufacturing, quality, marketing, logistics and procurement, sustainable development, HR, finance and external affairs, joined together to kick start the project, scheduled to commence operations on June 1 
next year. 

Technical consultant for the project is CemCon AG, a Swiss company, which will provide support in machine selection, onsite factory acceptance testing as well as pre-installation and post-commissioning testing.  

The new plant will open up employment opportunities for over 100 persons during the construction phase while over 50 persons in the vicinity will gain full time or contract employment once the plant 
is completed.