Kaiser Cement Corp, (China Cement Company), Tuen Mun
IDJ says the Kaiser Cement plant at Tuen Mun was supposed to be integrated with the CLP Power Station next door to utilise its large quantities of waste ash and dust from burning coal. Kaiser had large compressors/blowers on their site to move the waste products to their site and silos.
We have many articles about Green Island Cement Company and its long history in Hong Kong. But only the following about Kaiser. Can anyone tell us more the US company’s involvement in Hong Kong?
The American company Kaiser Cement Corporation apparently built the facility, which was commisioned in 1982, under the name China Cement Company (HK) Ltd.
An extract from a report of around 1982 says: Cement production was by Green Island Cement Co., Ltd, owned 27.6% by Cheung Kong Holdings Ltd.; and Hong Kong Cement Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Green Island Cement operated a cement plant at Kowloon Bay with an annual capacity of about 2 million tons.
A 1.5 million-ton-per-year grinding plant near Tuen Mun, to be operated by China Cement Corp., was scheduled to come onstream in September 1982. China Cement is owned 60% by Cheung Kong Holdings, 37% by Kaiser Cement Corp. of the United States, and 3% by Japan’s Onoda Cement Co. (1)
China Cement site & bulk materials jetty c1982 Courtesy: IDJ
The Los Angeles Times has this January 1985 report about the company: Kaiser Cement Corp. reported a 1984 net loss of $52.5 million, including a loss of $51.5 million from its investment in China Cement Co. (Hong Kong) Ltd. which, as previously announced, was written off in the third quarter. In 1983, Kaiser Cement reported a net loss of $5.2 million, which included a net loss from China Cement of $3.7 million and an after-tax gain of $565,000 from the sale of surplus land. Revenue for the year totaled $249.3 million, up 16%. (2)
Subsequently the site was handed over to the Green Island Cement Company when it closed its Hung Hom plant. GIC is currently owned by Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Ltd.
- The Mineral Industry of Other Areas of the Far East and South Asia, E Chin, GL Kinney, JC Wu, 1982?
- Los Angeles Times report 26th January 1985
- Noel Croucher – philanthropist and director of Green Island Cement and Hong Kong and China Gas
- Robert Taylor – Manager of Green Island Cement – interned and badly injured in Stanley Camp during the Japanese occupation
- Ling Hang Quarry – supplier to Green Island Cement Company
- Green Island Cement Company – stunning photos