Peru: UNACEM's net income grew by 16.2% in the first nine months of 2015 due to higher prices and lower costs.
UNACEM posted a US$55m profit as its sales rose by 5.5% to US$419m in the first nine months of 2015. The company cut its operating costs by 5.7% and its sales costs by 0.6%. Unacem's cement production rose by 6.4% to 1.43Mt in the third quarter of 2015, while its clinker output increased by 7% to 1.32Mt.
UNACEM, which competes in Peru with companies like Cementos Pacasmayo and Cementos Yura, said that it increased its domestic market share to 50.8% in the third quarter of 2015 from 50.3% in the previous three months. Its capital expenditure totalled US$63.6m in the first nine months of 2015, including investments at its Condorcocha and Atocongo plants and the Carpapata 3 hydroelectric project.
UNACEM, which sold US$625mn in 2021 bonds in October 2014 to finance its expansion projects, has an installed cement production capacity of 7.6Mt/yr. Peru's cement production rose by 1.4% to 10.7Mt in 2014, according to cement producers association Asocem. Exports climbed by 37.4% to 306,277t. Construction and cement companies are anticipating that a government drive to award public-private partnership concessions for more than US$20bn, in addition to projected infrastructure repairs after the approaching El Niño phenomenon, will drive industry growth.