Displaying items by tag: Cementos Argos

Honduras: Cementos Argos has inaugurated its 0.3Mt/yr cement grinding plant at San Lorenzo. It spent US$25m on the upgrade project and it has created 100 new direct and indirect jobs. The plant, formerly known as Cesur Grinding Station, was purchased from Lafarge in 2013. The refurbished plant will add to the cement producer’s assets in the country including an integrated cement plant in Comayagua and a terminal in San Pedro Sula.

Colombia: The Superintendency of Industry and Commerce (SIC), Colombia's competition watchdog, has rejected a request made by Productora de Cementos to register its brand Cemento Patriota under Nice Classification. The initially approved submission was contested by Cementos Argos, according to La Republica newspaper. It argued that Cementos Patriota would infringe on its Cementos Uno A, Concretos Uno A and Agregados Uno A labels, because it reproduced the distinctive letter 'A' and number one of the accompanying graphic shared by all three brands. SIC ruled in favour of Cementos Argos, arguing that a side-by-side comparison shows visual similarities.

US: HeidelbergCement has completed the sale of its Martinsburg, West Virginia cement plant and eight related terminals to Cementos Argos. With the finalisation of the sale the group has now met all the obligations with regards to its acquisition of Italcementi.

“With the disposal of the US assets we fulfil the obligation of the Federal Trade Commission and improve the net financial position of HeidelbergCement after the acquisition of Italcementi,” said Bernd Scheifele, chief executive officer of HeidelbergCement.

HeidelbergCement and Cementos Argos announced the sale in August 2016. The transaction purchase price was US$660m on a cash and debt-free basis. The FTC approved the agreement in November 2016.

Colombia: Cementos Argos’ sales revenue in Colombia have fallen by 8.3% to US$629m for the first nine months of 2016 from US$686m in the same period in 2015. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 12.9% to US$171m and its cement sales volumes fell by 17.9% to 3.78Mt. It blamed this on a fall in demand for bulk cement in the country caused by a delay in infrastructure projects.

“The US, Honduras and Panama continue to drive the company’s results and offer great opportunities for growth, offsetting the slowdown in demand we faced in the Colombian market as a result of the delay in the start of the construction of the 4G projects during the second half of the year,” said Juan Esteban Calle, chief executive officer of Cementos Argos.

Overall the cement producer reported that its sales revenue rose by 13.1% to US$2.05bn, that its EBITDA rose by 13.8% to US$396m but that its cement sales volumes fell by 1.4% to 10.5Mt.

US: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has approved an application from HeidelbergCement and Italcementi to sell the Essroc cement plant in Martinsburg, West Virginia, eight cement terminals in the mid-Atlantic region and related assets to Argos USA, a subsidiary of Cementos Argos. The divestiture was required by the FTC’s August 2016 final order settling charges that the US$4.2bn merger of HeidelbergCement and Italcementi would be likely to harm competition in five regional markets for cement in the US. The Commission vote to approve the divestiture was 3-0.

Honduras: Argos Honduras plans to spend US$25m towards upgrading its San Lorenzo grinding plant. The site has a production capacity of 300,000t/yr and it will develop its range of Ordinary Portland Cement products, said Argos Honduras director Harry Abuchaibe to La Prenza newspaper. The plant, formerly known as Cesur Grinding Station, was purchased from Lafarge in 2013 as part of a package of assets acquired at that time. Argos Honduras also operates a 1Mt/yr integrated cement plant in the country at Comayagua.

US: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is accepting public comments on an application from HeidelbergCement and Italcementi to sell the Essroc Martinsburg cement plant in West Virginia. The divestment is required by the FTC as part of the requirements of the acquisition of Italcementi and its subsidiary Essroc, by HeidlebergCement. The companies have sought permission from the FTC to sell the Martinsburg plant to the US division of Colombia’s Cementos Argos.

The Commission will decide whether to approve the proposed divestiture after expiration of a 30 -day public comment period. Public comments may be submitted until 24 October 2016.

Colombia: Procemcol has opened its 0.24Mt/yr Productora de Cemento SAS cement plant in Sogamoso. The project had an investment of US$10.2m and it will create 65 jobs, according to the El Tiempo newspaper. Sogamoso also has two other cement plants, owned by Cementos Argos and Cementos del Oriente, which are upgrading their equipment.

Colombia/Thailand: Cementos Argos has held its position in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) for the fourth consecutive year. Cementos Argos was featured as the most sustainable cement company in the world after obtaining the best score in the construction materials sector. The Colombia-based materials producer was listed along with Thailand’s Siam Cement.

"The permanence in this index confirms our business model, in which we start with sustainability and innovation as pillars of the strategy to create value for our customers, shareholders, communities, employees, and other stakeholders,” said Juan Esteban Calle, CEO of Cementos Argos.

Argos obtained the best score among the following variables: Biodiversity, Operational Eco efficiency, Water related risks, Social Reporting, Labour Practice Indicators and Human Rights, Tax Strategy, Corporate Citizenship and Philanthropy, Human Talent Development and Talent Attraction and retention. In addition to being included in the Global Index, Cementos Argos was recognised in Emerging Markets for the fourth consecutive year.

Each year about 2500 global companies, listed on the stock exchange, belonging to about 59 economic sectors, are invited to participate in the DJSI.

Panama: Cementos Argos has sold a 20% share in its Panamanian subsidiary to the Panama-based real estate investment firm Grupo Provivienda for US$126m. The sale of its stake will leave Cementos Argos with 78.57% of shares in the company, an equivalent of US$700m, while the remaining 1.43% will remain under control of minority shareholders.

Overall, the Panamanian transaction is part of the company's US$350m divestment plan that will finance its purchase of the Essroc cement plant at Martinsburg, West Virginia, USA. The Martinsburg plant is being sold as part of divestments resulting from HeidelbergCement’s ongoing acquisition of Essroc’s parent firm Italcementi.