Displaying items by tag: Brazil
Investors take action over Cimento Tupi’s debts
09 April 2019Brazil: Investors have started legal action over in Cimento Tupi’s defaulted debts and attempts to merge with its parent company Cimento Santo Estevão. The cement producer defaulted in mid-2018 on payments to foreign investors that hold around US$30m in it, according to the Valor Econômico newspaper. It also stopped paying interest on the debts in 2015.
Other creditors are also working to stop Cimento Tupi’s plans to merge with Cimento Santo Estevão because it would raise the company’s debts rather than cut costs. A court in Rio de Janerio rejected one case although others are on-going elsewhere. Separately, the Agricultural Bank of China is also challenging the cement producer over arrears in a loan worth US$18m.
Cimento Tupi operates one integrated plant at Pedra do Sino in Minas Gerais and a grinding plant in Modi das Cruzes in São Paulo. It has a combined cement production capacity of 2.5Mt/yr but it has been producing half of this since around 2015. Its operating revenue remained stable at US$43m for the first nine months of 2018. However, its loss more than trippled year-on-year to US$76m.
Brazil: Votorantim Cimentos’ revenue rose by 15% year-on-year to US$3.26bn in 2018 from US$2.82bn in 2017. Its sales volumes of cement increased slightly to 30.9Mt from 30.6Mt. Its adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 51% to US$677m from US$477m. Despite a 1.2% drop in cement demand in Brazil, the group managed to raise its revenue. The cement producer said that its revenue growth in 2018 was affected by markets in Brazil and the US and positive currency depreciation effects.
Brazil: Eduardo Mazzilli de Vassimon has been announced as the president of Votorantim. He will succeed Raul Calfat on 1 May 2019 following a transition period in April 2019. Calfat has worked for Votorantim since 1992 when it acquired Papel Simão. He later became chairman of the board of directors in 2014.
Vassimon, a 60-year old, graduated in business administration at the Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo (FGV EAESP) and in economics at the School of Economics, Business and Accounting of the University of São Paulo (FEA USP) with a postgraduate degree at EAESP and at the HEC business school in France. He has worked for more than 30 years in the financial market, including for Itaú-Unibanco. His last position was as director general at Itaú-Unibanco's wholesale bank and president of Itaú BBA.
Votorantim Cimentos buys United Materials in the US
20 March 2019US: Brazil’s Votorantim Cimentos has acquied United Materials, a producer of aggregates, concrete and building materials, for an undisclosed amount. The purchase was conducted by its subsidiary Votorantim Cimentos North America. United Materials operates four ready-mix concrete plants, one aggregate quarry and two building materials units in the western part of New York state. It has around 140 employees.
Brazil: InterCement has appointed Flavio Aidar as its chief executive officer (CEO). He succeeds Paul Nigo, who took the role in early 2018. Aidar has worked in the financial services sector including for Goldman Sachs, where he left as managing director in 2017. He then moved on to Mover Participações, formerly known as Camargo Corrêa and the controlling shareholder of InterCement, as a member of its advisory board.
Votorantim Cimentos strengthens position in northern Brazil
28 February 2019Brazil: Votorantim Cimentos has started shipping cement from its Aracaju terminal in Sergipe state to its Manaus terminal in Amazonas state to expand its business in the north of the country. It purchased the Manaus unit from Cemex in 2018, according to the Valor Economico newspaper. A 20,000t cement carrier will be used exclusively for the project.
Vicat completes purchase of majority stake in Ciplan
22 January 2019Brazil: France’s Vicat Group has completed its purchase of a 65% stake in Cimento Planalto (Ciplan). The transaction was structured through a reserved capital increase of Euro295m. Proceeds will be used to settle Ciplan's existing debt. Ciplan operates a 3.2Mt/yr integrated plant at Sobradinho in Bahia near to Brasilia. It also runs nine ready-mixed concrete plants and five aggregates quarries.
Brennand Group to build new cement plant at Ponta Grossa
15 January 2019Brazil: Brennand Group plans to invest around US$190m toward building a new cement plant at Ponta Grossa in Paraná state. A provisional building license has been awarded and the company is now waiting on further licenses before construction work can begin according to aRede. The new plant will be build by Brennand Group’s subsidiary Mineracao Delta do Paraná and the plant will operate under the Companhia de Cimento do Paraná (CPR) name.
Funding for plant will come from Brennand Group’s sale of a 50% stake in a subsidiary to Italy’s Buzzi Unicem in 2018.
SNIC forecasts 3% growth in 2019
10 January 2019Brazil: Paulo Camillo, the president of SNIC, forecasts that cement sales will rise by 3% in 2019. If he is correct then it will be the first rise in four years for the local industry. Total cement sales fell by 1.1% year-on-year to 52.8Mt in 2018 from 53.4Mt in 2017. Particular falls in sales were noted in the north and northeast of the country, although exports rose by 14.3% to 88,000t. A truck drivers strike and general economic uncertainty reduced the effects of a positive first half to the year. The cement association also said that freight, fuels and electricity costs grew ‘significantly’ in 2018. However, it is optimistic that new legislation support co-processing of alternative fuels will partly help to alleviate this situation.
Walter Dissinger resigns from Votorantim Cimentos
05 December 2018Brazil: Walter Dissinger has resigned from Votorantim Cimentos. He will be succeeded as chief executive officer (CEO) by Marcelo Castelli on 1 February 2019. Dissinger will assist the succession in early 2019.
Dissinger has led the company for over five years. He has left to seek new ‘challenges.’ Votorantim said that the years during which the company was led by Dissinger were marked by client-focused management, innovation and a digital transformation. Among other projects, Dissinger played a role in the creation of the first loyalty platform within the construction materials industry, Juntos Somos Mais.
Castelli is an executive with a career of over 31 years. In 1997 he started working at VCP (Votorantim Celulose e Papel). Since then, he has held several executive positions and coordinated the merger of Aracruz and VCP, which created Fibria. At the company, Castelli was the executive officer of different areas, such as Forestry, Paper, Strategy, Supply, and since July 2011 he has been the company’s CEO.