Displaying items by tag: Mexico

Mexico: Moctezuma inaugurated a US$12m alternative fuels storage system at its Tepetzingo cement plant in Morelos, after two years of engineering, planning and execution. The facility will process over 150,000t/yr of waste, including end-of-life tyres, municipal solid waste and non-recyclable materials, which will replace fossil fuels in cement production, with a goal of 30% substitution by 2030. The company said that the benefits of the project include saving thousands of tonnes of waste from landfill and mitigating methane emissions.

The producer, the Morelos government and the Ministry of Sustainable Development are also developing a circular economy centre in Jiutepec with an additional investment of US$1.6m. The facility will collect, shred and convert up to 3000t/month of tyres into alternative fuels.

Spain: Molins sales revenue fell by 5% year-on-year top €659m in the first half of 2025 due to negative currency exchange effects in Mexico and Argentina. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) dropped by 8% to €175m. However, both sales and earnings rose if adjusted for currency effects due to price rises and good performance otherwise in Europe and South America.

Marcos Cela, the CEO of Molins, said, "The results for the first half of 2025 reflect the strength of our business model, capable of responding firmly in a complex global environment, which has continued to be marked by economic uncertainty and currency volatility.” In June 2025 the group said it had spent €100m on expansion in the precast concrete sector by buying Portugal-based precast concrete producer Concremat and by starting to build a new plant in Spain.

Mexico: Cemex has reported a 5.3% year-on-year decrease in its sales to US$4.13bn for the second quarter of 2025 compared to the same period of 2024. Its operating earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) also fell by 10.5% to US$823m.

The company attributed the declines to challenging demand conditions in Mexico and the US and a difficult comparison base in 2024. In Mexico, this related to strong infrastructure spending in 2024 prior to national elections. Cemex noted that higher local currency prices in key markets and strong volume performance in its Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region partially mitigated the results. The EMEA region recorded its highest-ever first-half operating EBITDA.

The company’s reports stated “Our operations in Europe continue progressing on decarbonisation with net CO₂ emissions in the quarter reaching a new record low of 418kg/t cement equivalent. Demand conditions continue to improve in the Middle East and Africa with volumes expanding at double-digit rates, fuelled by housing, non-residential projects and large infrastructure works.”

Cemex’s sales in Mexico fell by 23% to US$1.06bn in the second quarter of 2025 compared to the US$1.38bn in 2024. Domestic grey cement, ready-mixed concrete and aggregates sales volumes contracted by 16%, 15% and 19% respectively. In the US, Cemex blamed the drop on high rain levels in various places and continued poor performance of the residential market. Due to this sales fell by 6% to US$1.3bn.

Mexico: Yakup Bayram, the CEO of PaneraTech, has been announced as the first keynote speaker at the 19th Unified International Technical Conference on Refractories (UNITECR) due to take place on 27 - 30 October 2025 in Cancun, Mexico. Bayram will discuss the use of artificial intelligence in refractories. He is also scheduled to moderate a panel entitled ‘Sustainability With Intelligence in the Refractories Industry.’ The call for papers for the event has closed and around 180 presentations are currently planned.

UNITECR held its first event in 1987 in Tokyo, Japan. The most recent outing took place in in Frankfurt, Germany, in 2023. The event, hosted by the German Refractory Association, featured over 200 speakers and more than 1100 participants in total. The meeting in 2025 is being hosted by the Latin American Association of Refractories Manufacturers (ALAFAR).

Mexico/US: Grupo Cementos Chihuahua (GCC) reported that sales in the US were up by 8% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2025 (April – June 2025), due to higher ready-mix concrete and cement volumes of 21% and 4% respectively. In Mexico, which represents 25% of consolidated net sales, it recorded a 13% decrease in ready-mix concrete volumes and a 6% decrease in cement volumes, impacted by an industrial slowdown and negative currency exchange effects.

The company recorded a fall in earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of 12% to US$118m, while sales rose 1% to US$364m. Net income fell by 18% to US$73.5m from US$89.6m in the second quarter of 2024.

Holcim Mexico has been promoting itself as the lynchpin of the group’s growth in Latin America this week. The move makes sense following the spin-off of Holcim’s North America business in late June 2025. The company says that Mexico has a housing deficit, has the highest profitability margin in Latin America and it is leading the transformation toward circular and low-carbon construction.

The bullseye on Latin America was first planted by Holcim in the group’s NextGen Growth 2030 strategy that was released in March 2025. With the company preparing to separate off its most profitable section in the US, it decided to highlight new reasons for investors to stay interested. The summary was ‘focused investment’ in attractive markets in Latin America, Europe, North Africa and Australia, sustainability-driven growth with demolition materials singled out and an emphasis on the building solutions division. Although the Latin America division supplied the smallest geographical share of new group net sales in 2024 (US$3.9bn, 19%), the profitability metric presented, recurring earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) margin, gave the region the highest result. Or in other words, Holcim is telling investors that it may have divested North America but it still has business south of the Rio Grande… and it looks promising. It then said that it has the ‘best’ geographical coverage and vertical integration in the region and the largest construction materials retail franchise in the form of Disensa.

Understandably, the likes of Cemex, Cementos Argos, Votorantim and others might take exception to some of this. For example, Cemex reported net sales in excess of US$6bn in Latin America and the Caribbean, and Votorantim reported net sales of around US$4.8bn in 2024. Yet, Holcim’s claim of regional spread does carry some weight. It purchased Comacsa and Mixercon in Peru and assets from Cemex in Guatemala in 2024. At the end of the year the group owned integrated cement plants in Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru. Plus it held grinding plants in the French Antilles and Nicaragua. All of these are majority-owned subsidiaries, often also with aggregate, ready-mixed concrete and building systems businesses. Holcim may have sold up in Brazil in 2022 but it still holds a relatively intact network in Latin America.

Graph 1: Grey cement production in Mexico, 2020 - April 2025, rolling 12 months. Source: National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI).

As for the market, Holcim reported modest but growing net sales in Latin America in 2024, despite lower sales volumes plus elections in Mexico, economic issues in Argentina and political instability in Ecuador. Focusing on Mexico, local cement volumes were said to be stable, aided by a recovery in bagged cement in spite of bulk sales falling on the back of fewer infrastructure projects. Holcim Mexico also spent US$55m on building a new grinding unit at its integrated Macuspana plant in Tabasco. Once complete, the update will increase the site’s capacity by 0.5Mt/yr to 1.5Mt/yr.

Cemex, the market leader in Mexico, released more direct information. It saw its sales and operating earnings fall in 2024. This was blamed on a poor second half to the year following the presidential election in June 2024. GCC’s sales fell more sharply in 2024 and this was blamed on “energy infrastructure limitations and permitting delays in Juarez.” So far in 2025, in the first quarter, the pain in Mexico for the construction sector has continued, with both Cemex and GCC noting strong falls in cement volumes and sales due to a slowdown in industrial demand. Holcim has not reported on Mexico directly so far in 2025 only saying that sales have risen in local currencies in Latin America as a whole in the first quarter. Cemex started a cost cutting exercise in February 2025 in response to the situation. Graph 1 above shows Mexican cement production. Although it should be noted that Cemex and GCC still run subsidiaries in the US. Holcim now does not. Rolling 12-month cement production figures in Mexico started falling in September 2024 and continued to do so until April 2025, the date of the latest data provided by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography.

Despite falling volumes though, the price of cement in Mexico remains high by international standards. At the start of July 2025 the National Association of Independent Businessmen (ANEI) raised the alarm that distributors had warned of an 8% price rise on the way. It’s in this environment that news stories such as Bolivia-based Empresa Pública de Cementos Bolivia (ECEBOL), a producer in a landlocked and mountainous country, preparing to export clinker to Mexico from July 2025 start to sound credible. Sales may have been down in Mexico in 2024 but earnings and margins remain high. In the medium-to-longer term the country looks even more promising, with plenty of scope for development and building products. Ditto the rest of Latin America.

One way a multinational heavy building materials company with a presence in sustainability-obsessed Europe might gain an advantage in the region is by using its knowledge to capture the easier decarbonisation routes first. This is exactly the route Holcim and Holcim Mexico seem to be taking by promoting lower carbon cement and concrete products, and by growing the recycling of demolition materials. Another option, of course, is that Holcim is bolstering its Latin America division ahead of a potential divestment. Either way, Holcim is presenting a plan for growth in its new form, shorn of North America. It’s all to play for.

Mexico: Holcim has placed Mexico at the centre of its NextGen Growth 2030 strategy to ‘drive profitable expansion’ in Europe, Australia, North Africa and Latin America following the spin-off of its North American business. Mexico now plays a strategic role in scaling sustainable construction solutions across the region and will allow Holcim to respond to key global trends such as urbanisation, housing shortages, resilient infrastructure and environmental sustainability.

Holcim Mexico CEO Christian Dedeu said “Mexico is now a strategic market where we will scale innovative solutions for circular and low-carbon construction. Our goal is to triple the recycling of demolition materials, double the Disensa store network and expand our sustainable offering through ECOPact and ECOPlanet.”

Dedeu added “In a region facing major social and environmental challenges, Mexico and Latin America have the potential to lead a new era of sustainable construction. At Holcim, we are committed to scaling solutions that address the climate emergency while building progress for people and the planet.”

Sweden: Alcemy has appointed Alejandro Espejel Garcia as its Head of Sales - Cement Business Line. He previously worked as a Business Development Manager for the Germany-based artificial intelligence software company.

Espejel Garcia worked for Denmark-based FLSmidth from 2012 to 2024. He started as a Senior Reliability Specialist for the equipment supplier notably becoming Country Manager and Head of Mining Sales - Mexico in 2018 and Managing Director for FLSmidth Panama at around the same time. He subsequently was appointed as Vice President - Head of Group Digital’s Smart Service in 2021 and Vice President - Head of ERP Transformation in 2023. Before working for FLSmidth he held various roles with Cemex from 2004 to 2011 ending his tenure as a Regional Technical Manager in Mexico. He holds an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey and a master’s of business administration qualification from the Copenhagen Business School .

Mexico: Cemex will invest US$1.4bn in 2025 to strengthen its financial position, maintain liquidity and focus on projects delivering high profitability, including potential acquisitions in the US. Between January and March 2025, it invested US$221m, down from US$249m in the same period of 2024. It expects to invest a further US$1.15bn over the rest of 2025, subject to financial results and market conditions.

Cemex CEO Jaime Muguiro Domínguez said that the company will eventually transition its capital expenditure to acquisitions of small and medium-sized companies in the US that can ‘provide greater profitability.’ He added “Given the increased uncertainty in the current global macroeconomic environment, we will make sure that our capital allocation decisions do not compromise our financial metrics.”

Bolivia: Empresa Pública de Cementos Bolivia (ECEBOL) will begin exporting 12,500t/month of clinker to Mexico from June or July 2025, following the finalisation of a supply contract in late May 2025, according to Ahora El Pueblo newspaper.

Technical manager Aldo Olivera said that the deal will be Ecebol’s first clinker export contract, and that negotiations have been underway for several months. Oliviera said that the company hoped to achieve between US$7m - 8m over the course of the contract.