Premier Cement PLC has signed an agreement with Infrastructure Development Company Limited (Idcol) to receive a Tk 350 crore long-term loan for expanding production at two new units. The company has already commenced production at the Narayanganj and Chattogram units, involving a total investment of Tk 1,300 crore. Out of this amount, Tk 800 crore was allocated for the Narayanganj unit and Tk 500 crore for the Chattogram unit. Standard Chartered Bank, Pubali Bank, and City Bank provided 70% of the investment as loans, while a Danish bank contributed $35 million for the purchase of capital machinery.
Premier Cement plans to use the funds from Idcol to repay the earlier short-term loans. They will have a repayment period of 10 years, as Idcol offers such facilities for green factories. The company aims to increase its annual output from 2.4 million tonnes to a record-breaking 5.2 million tonnes with the expansion. The addition of a vertical roller mill (VRM) to the existing ball mill facility has already increased the capacity to 19,040 tonnes per day.