Displaying items by tag: Chile

Chile: Cementos Melón plans to build a 0.5Mt/yr grinding plant at Punta Arenas. The new unit will open in the first half of 2020, according to La Prensa Austral newspaper. The project has an initial investment of US$30m with a further US$15m planned to expand the site with a second mill. Construction will start at the site in the second half of 2019. The supplier of the mill has not been named.

Chile: Cementos Melon has completed a US$25m upgrade to its Puerto Montt grinding plant. The expansion has doubled its production capacity to 0.6Mt/yr from 0.3Mt/yr, according to the Diario Financiero. The project is intended to meet growing demand for cement in the south of the country.

Peru: Cal & Cemento Sur (Calcesur) plans to add a sixth production line to its cement and lime plant in Puno at the end of October 2018. The upgrade will increase the unit’s production capacity to 1Mt/yr from 0.63Mt/yr, according to the Gestion newspaper. The company says that following the expansion the site will be the largest lime plant in Latin America.

The subsidiary of Gloria Group has targeted a 12% year-on-year growth in sales in 2019. It plans to sell lime to the mining sector in northern Chile and it is also focusing on Ecuador and Bolivia. The company plans to launch lime-sand bricks in 2019 for local demand and in Chile.

The cement and lime producer also plans to launch its Tipo LH cement product at the end of October 2018 and to sell cement in 25kg bags. At present, the company sells 42.5kg bags.

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: Cemento Polpaico, part of LafargeHolcim, reported a profit of US$5.93m in the first half of 2018, a 52.6% rise with respect to the US$3.9m profit it achieved in the first half of 2017. Its operating revenues from continuing activities were US$120.7m, a 32.2% year-on-year increase.

The company reported that the higher operating revenues were mainly due to an increase in sales volumes of cement and concrete, driven by the greater economic activity.

Chile: Union workers at Cemento Polpaico have gone on strike following negotiations. 162 workers, or around 15% of its employees, have taken industrial action, according to the Diario Financiero newspaper. The cement producer is unable to estimate the impact of the strike on its financial results.

Chile: Fuchs Group has purchased a controlling stake in the lubricants business of Comercial Pacific. The agreement will see it hold 65% of the company with Comercial Pacific retaining the remaining 35%. The acquisition focuses in particular on the customer base and workforce. Comercial Pacific is a long-standing Fuchs distributor in Chile in the mining, food, paper and cellulose industries. The company employs 13 people in sales and application engineering.

Chile: Cementos Bicentenario (BSA) has signed a deal with energy company Engie to supply its Quilicura grinding plant near Santiago with renewable energy. All of the energy supplied to the plant will come from renewable sources including solar and hydroelectric. The contract, equivalent to 35GWh, will see the plant achieve the I-REC certification.

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.