MANILA, PHILIPPINES - Leading cement manufacturer Holcim Ltd. said Wednesday it "has no plans to cease" operations of its plants in the Philippines, although there could be temporary shutdowns of production lines.

"We will continue to run our plants and, in fact, expect improvements in our manufacturing efficiencies again this year," Holcim Philippines chief operating officer Ian Thackwray said in a statement.

Investments to improve its facilities made last year showed that "we're here to stay, and that we remain committed to doing everything we can to maintain our position as market leader," he said.

However, Thackwray said there could be "short shutdowns" with supply already outpacing demand, even as he stressed none of the company's 1,500 local employees would be retrenched.

"This (temporary shutdown) might happen more when demand is soft, but it's a normal occurrence," he said. "Since these are temporary, they will not result in any job losses."

Holcim Philippines, part of Switzerland-based Holcim Group, is the country's top cement manufacturer with four plants with total annual production capacity of 7.7 million tonnes.

The Philippines is to announce economic growth figures for 2008 on Thursday, but has said gross domestic product growth may come in at between 4.2 and 4.5 percent after a 30-year high of 7.2 percent in 2007.

It has also reported massive job cuts in the key electronics and garments sectors since December as the global financial crisis softens demand for the export items.