Displaying items by tag: Cementos Bio Bio

Chile: Cementos Bío-Bío has taken a loan worth US$37.6m from BCI-Itaú bank and Scotiabank. It took the measure ‘to ensure the company’s liquidity’ in response to the coronavirus outbreak. Cementos Bío-Bío said, “The Covid-19 pandemic brings risks due to its impact on the world and local economy. The company estimates that it will strongly affect construction, impacting cement dispatches.” It added, “The company maintains a comfortable cash position,” with liquidity of US$53.3m.

Chile: Cbb, formerly known as Cementos Bío Bío, has inaugurated a new 0.2Mt/yr cement grinding plant at Arica. The unit had an investment of US$20m, according to the Diario Financiero newspaper. It is the company’s fifth plant in the country. As part of Cbb’s expansion strategy to target Peru, the new plant may double its production capacity in the future. The cement producer is also planning to build a US$20m plant at the Port of Matarani near Arequipa in Peru for a scheduled commission date in 2020.

Chile: Cementos Bío Bío has changed its name to Cbb as as part of a rebranding exercise to target the group for the digital age and to target growth outside of Chile. Chief executive officer (CEO) Enrique Elsaca said that the change is part of the company’s Transforma 2021 plan, including investment of US$150m in Chile, Argentina and Peru, according to the El Mercurio newspaper.

It is about to inaugurate a cement grinding plant at Arica in Chile, it plans to build a US$20m plant at Arequipa in Peru for commissionoing in early 2020 and it plans to upgrade its San Juan lime plant in Argentina. It also hopes to build a new lime plant in northern Argentina to supply the lithium business.

Peru: Chile’s Cementos Bío Bío plans to build a US$20m grinding plant at the Port of Matarani near Arequipa. The cement producer has all the necessary permits in place and it intends to open the unit in the first half of 2020, according to the Diario Financiero newspaper. Spain’s Cemengal will supply a Plug & Grind mill for the project. The plant will have a production capacity of 0.2Mt/yr, although there are plans to double this if the market supports it.

Peru’s been the place over the last week with news reports of new production capacity and its targeting as a key export market by Vietnam.

Local press reported this week that three new cement grinding plants are planned to start production in 2019. Cemento Inka plans to build a 0.6Mt/yr grinding plant at Ica near Pisco. It also plans to upgrade the kilns at its plant at Cajamarquilla near Lima. Then Mixercon, a ready-mix concrete firm, wants to spend US$20m towards building two new plants in northern Lima, also in 2019. It also has plans to open distribution centres around the capital too.

For a local industry generally dominated by local often family-controlled producers this is quite a change. The larger companies – Pacasmayo, UNACEM and Yura – normally dominate the headlines and the market here. Unsurprisingly then that Pacasmayo and Yura also have upgrades planned for their plants in 2019 too.

Changes to capacity started in late May 2018 when Salaverry-based importer Invecem was said to be buying equipment for a 0.25Mt/yr grinding plant. Then things really started moving when Unacem bought Cementos Portland (Cempor), a joint venture between Chile's Cementos Bío Bío and Brazil’s Votorantim Cimentos. The foreign companies were planning to build a plant near Lima but the project was delayed by a legal battle over environmental issues intitiated by Unacem. This was followed by Cal & Cemento Sur (Calcesur), a subsidiary of Grupo Gloria, announcing that it was going to add a new production line to its cement and lime plant in Puno.

With this level of interest in grinding plants going on it’s unsurprising that Vietnam, a major exporter of cement, has taken an interest. Imports of cement to Peru rose by 65% year-on-year to 0.94Mt in the 12 months from December 2017 to November 2018 from 0.57Mt in the same period previously. Imports of clinker rose by 37% to 0.78Mt from 0.57Mt. This compares to a rise of 21% to 0.61Mt in cement imports in 2017 and a fall of 1.2% to 0.51Mt in 2016. In the 12 months to the end of November 2018 most of that imported cement (81%) came from Vietnam followed by 14% from China and 3% from Mexico. Clinker imports have been more varied with 39% from South Korea, 31% from Vietnam, 19% from Ecuador and 11% from Japan. The general situation for the clinker producers has been a slight increase in cement production to 10Mt for the 12 months to the end of November 2018 and slightly higher increases in despatches.

So, it looks like an apparent cement demand is up in Peru and the importers are rushing to meeting demand. The question, then, is why haven’t the clinker producers announced projects to squeeze out the grinders? As mentioned above Pacasmayo and Yura have upgrades planned but nothing really large seems to be coming yet. Also, given the tough time Cempor was given by the local companies what kind of opposition are the new projects by Cemento Inka, Mixercon and Invecem likely to face? The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate is below the glory days of the 2000s when it topped 6% but it is still one of the strongest in South America with 3.8% forecast for 2019 by the World Bank. This is the country in the region to watch in 2019.

Peru: UNACEM has purchased Cementos Portland (Cempor) for US$28m. It acquired a full stake in the company from Chile's Cementos Bío Bío and Brazil’s Votorantim Cimentos, according to Semana Económica magazine. Cementos Bío Bío and Votorantim originally planned to build a US$150m cement plant in Lima. However, this was delayed by a legal battle over environmental issues initiated by Unacem. The Peruvian cement producer operates an integrated plant in Lima.

Peru: Chile’s Cementos Bío Bío’s has sold its 50% share in Cementos Portland (Cempor) for US$14m. The cement producer originally purchased a stake in the company in 2010, according to the La Tercera newspaper. The Chilean company had previously intended to build a cement plant in Lima in a joint venture with Brazil’s Votorantim but this was delayed by legal opposition from Unacem.

Chile: Cementos Bío Bío has started importing clinker at the Port of Ariqueño to support the start-up of its new grinding plant at Arica. The company unloaded 8000t of clinker, according to Arica al día. The 0.15Mt/yr grinding unit was previously scheduled to start production in September 2018.

Chile: Cementos Bío Bío plans to start production at its new 0.15Mt/yr grinding plant at Arica in September 2018. The project has an investment of US$15m, according to the Economia y Negocios newspaper. The company wants the unit to reach its production capacity by 2021, with plans to subsequently double it to 0.3Mt/yr. The project is part of a US$150m investment that the cement producer is undertaking in the period to 2022.

Chile: Cementos Bío Bío is considering expansion plans in Argentina and Peru, according to the El Mercurio newspaper. The plans are part of its 2021 strategy. It also wants to consolidate its leadership in its local market.