Uruguay: Three cement companies are planning to invest up to US$262m in the Treinta y Tres region of Uruguay to meet demand for building materials driven by the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.

The Uruguan state oil and cement company Ancap, alongside Spanish firm Cementos Molins and Brazil's Votorantim, have filed an environmental impact study for a new cement plant with a capacity of 750,000t/yr. Total costs are estimated at US$160m, with Cementos Molins contributing 60% of the investment and Ancap and Votarantim contributing 20% each.

Ancap is also preparing environmental studies for two new lime production plants. A first unit will have a capacity of 150t/day with an investment of US$7m. Ancap has already secured a contract with Brazilian federal power holding group Eletrobras to place this production. A second unit will have a capacity of 500t/day with an investment of US$95m, including infrastructure costs related to the project.

In order to provide the region with better export options towards Brazil, Uruguayan port authority ANP is trying to develop a commercial route connecting the Merín and the Los Patos lakes. Merín lake is on the border between Uruguay and Brazil's southernmost state Rio Grande do Sul, and it is connected by the San Gonzalo canal to the Los Patos lake, which in turn empties into the Atlantic ocean.