Displaying items by tag: Cementos Cienfuegos

Cuba: A ‘materials spill’ at Cementos Cienfuegos’ Carlos Marx cement plant in Guabairo on 27 August 2024 resulted in the death of one worker and injuries to five others. General manager Ernesto Gálvez said that a filter in the plant’s Kiln 3 collapsed, leading to the spillage of hot material from a hopper. Granma News has reported that Raymundo Narciso Sarría, an employee of contractor Empresa de Construcciones Ingenieras No. 6, died, while one other worker is in a critical condition, two in a serious or very serious condition and two others in a less serious condition.

Cuba/Guyana: Guyanese government officials attended a meeting with representatives of Cuba-based Cementos Cienfuegos on 25 November 2022. The Guyana Chronicle newspaper has reported that the Cuban government advised the Guyanese officials of the feasibility of importing Cuban building materials, including cement, into Guyana.

Cuba: Switzerland-based LafargeHolcim has agreed in principle to settle a US court case regarding alleged trafficking in private property previously confiscated by the Cuban government. The Miami Herald newspaper has reported that the group is preparing to pay the claimant compensation. In the complaint, the plaintiffs had claimed the current market value of the property was an estimated US$270m, plus legal fees, interest and other costs could be involved. An agreement is expected to be reached by late June 2021.

In late 2020 a court in Florida, US accepted a request for damages from LafargeHolcim to over 20 parties from Cuba whose land was nationalised and subsequently had a cement plant built on it. The claim alleged that Switzerland-based Holderbank had held a stake in the partly-state owned Carlos Marx cement plant near Cienfuegos since 2001. Holderbank later became Holcim and then LafargeHolcim. The plaintiffs have been aided by a change in US law allowing Cubans to claim damages in US courts for expropriated property from private companies which profited from them.

Cuba: Cementos Cienfuegos’ Carlos Marx cement plant in Guabairo resumed production in late May 2021. Production had been suspended since 14 January 2021 due to a lack of petcoke, according to the Sierra Maestra newspaper. Fuel suppliers had been affected by a fuel shortage created by US trade sanctions. Despite the enforced shutdown the plant intends to meet its production target for 2021.

Cuba/US: A court in Florida has accepted a request for damages worth US$270m from LafargeHolcim to over 20 parties from Cuba whose land was nationalised and subsequently had a cement plant built on it. The claim alleges that Switzerland-based Holderbank has held a stake in the partly-state owned Carlos Marx cement plant near Cienfuegos since 2001 via a deliberately “complex network of letterbox companies and transactions” in the Netherlands and Spain, according to the Tages Anzeiger newspaper. Holderbank later became Holcim and then LafargeHolcim.

The building materials producer’s alleged involvement may constitute a violation of the US embargo on trade with Cuba for companies active in the US. The claim has been aided by a clause in the US’s Cuban blockade law, activated by President Donald Trump, enabling Cubans to claim damages in US courts for expropriated property from private companies which profited from them.

Cuba: The Punta Alegre gypsum mine near Ciego de Ávila supplied over 56,400t of gypsum to the local cement industry in 2017. The mine mainly supplied Cementos Cienfuegos, according to the Invasor newspaper. Despite the disruption caused by Hurricane Irma in mid-2017 the mine beat its annual production target of 50,000t. The unit installed a new mill from Chinese suppliers that increased its production capacity to 100t/hr in 2015.

Cuba: Cementos Cienfuegos has gradually restarted production following Hurricane Irma hitting the island in early September 2017. Electricity was restored to the site on 14 September 2017 enabling the cement mills to be operated. The kiln was ignited on 19 September 2017, according to the 5 de Septiembre newspaper. Components damaged by the storm included the insulation covering electrofilters on the plant’s tower, broken power cables and a breach to a water dyke near the site.