Construction giant targets resources sector

Monier has been in the construction business in PNG since well before independence. Credit: Monier

A need to diversify in the face of a volatile construction sector has seen Monier Limited pay more attention to the mining and gas sectors.

“Cashflow has certainly been a challenge. The construction industry in general is very up and down,” Matthew McLachlan, Monier’s General Manager, tells Business Advantage PNG.

“The sooner these bigger [resources] projects kick in, the better the economy will be. These projects are needed to stimulate things. We geared up for [TotalEnergies’ Papua LNG project] a number of years ago.”

History with resources sector

Monier, a member of the Constantinou Group of Companies, is PNG’s largest producer, supplier and distributor of construction materials and building products.

While the construction sector remains its “bread and butter”, the resources sector is not a completely unknown quantity for Monier.

“We are already doing work for some of the mines,” McLachlan says. “We have got a mobile batching plant up at Kainantu and we had a contract with [steel fabrication and building firm] Hornibrook there, too. Recently, we got another contract with K92 to do with their expansion.”

Monier has also been contracted for some of the early works at TotalEnergies’ Papua LNG project, McLachlan notes, and has previously supplied aggregates to ExxonMobil’s PNG LNG project.

Unique structure

According to McLachlan, Monier’s unique structure puts it in a strong position to service the upcoming pipeline of major resources projects.

Its sister companies in the Constantinou Group include Hebou Constructions, Lamana Development and Central Sand Supplies, which together offer a full suite of building solutions.

“Our focus on ISO accreditation and having those high standards and good discipline in place is also important for us,” McLachlan says.

Also key for Monier’s goals is its investments in its people.

“It is important to get the right people, but we also make sure that we invest in upskilling them,” McLachlan says.

“When I first started at Monier as a concrete plant manager, we had about 40 expats and now we are down to just 16. We have trained the local staff to be leaders, and that is good for those guys and good for PNG.”

This article was first published in Mining and Energy 2025/26, released in October. Read the full edition here