Displaying items by tag: Chile

Colombia: Jose Mario Velazquez, president of Cementos Argos, has confirmed the firm's intention to start operations in markets in Chile and Peru. Grupo Argos is already present in the US, Haiti, Honduras, Panama and Puerto Rico.

Chile: The Superintendency of the Environment (SMA) has filed charges against the Cemento Polpaico cement company regarding environmental irregularities at the Cerro Blanco plant in Til Til, near Santiago. SMA discovered that the plant failed to comply with carbon emission directives and did not have an adequate contingency plan for the preservation of underground water sources. The company now has ten days to adjust procedures or reply to the charges laid by the entity within 15 days before SMA issues penalties.

Chile/US: Cemento Melón has hired River Logic to implement its Integrated Business Planning (IBP) solution, a business analytics platform. The IBP solution is intended to aid the Chilean cement producer to dynamically integrate finance with the sales and operations planning process, optimising demand, supply, production, distribution and investment capital decisions. The implementation will be led by River Logic Chile, a partner company to US-firm River Logic.

"We are convinced that the IBP solution will enable us to accurately model the business, including the financial and operational complexities and through the application of prescriptive analytics will provide us with the superior decision-making ability required in modern management," said Antonio Lira, Strategy Lead at Cemento Melón. "

"Given the complexity of the cement market, low return on assets and strong price competition, we believe IBP's unique ability to supporting tactical and strategic planning processes will be a fundamental contributor to achieving a sustainable competitive advantage for Melon" said Raimundo Veloso, partner at River Logic Chile.

Chile: On 20 May 2014 the environmental committee of Chile's Santiago Metropolitan region admitted for evaluation a 20MW solar power project from Chilean cement producer Cemento Polpaico.

Cemento Polpaico plans to invest US$42m in the Cerro Blanco photovoltaic park, which will be installed next to its cement plant in the Tiltil Municipality. The park will help to diversify Chile's energy mix and will supply renewable energy to the central power network (SIC), through the Punta Peuco substation, according to the environmental impact declaration. Construction is projected to commence in 2014.

Chile: Chile-based utility company E-CL and Cementos Bío Bío's Antofagasta plant have signed a contract that is related to the reuse of fly ash for cement production.

After a long process of development and testing between the two companies, the ash that is captured by filters from the central generating units Thermal Andina (CTA) and Thermal Power Hornitos (CTH) in Mejillones, is used to replace natural pozzolan in Cementos Bío Bío's cement products.

Cementos Bío Bío expects to consume 70% of the daily production of fly ash from the CTA and CTH generating units. The project will bring a huge environmental benefit, since prior to this agreement, all the ash was deposited in landfills. The ash is a non-hazardous waste with similar properties to natural pozzolan, so its use in place of pozzolan means that the cement maintains its durability and strength.

Carlos Ferruz, manager of generation sites and E-CL, said that, "This initiative gives a new use for the ash, incorporating this non-hazardous waste as a raw material to a useful product such as cement. Loading, transport and unloading is performed without generating pollution." Ferruz added, "Usually the ash resulting from electricity generation is taken to a landfill, but with this innovation the ash acquires a new use and proves to be a real contribution to the environmental sustainability policies of both companies."

Chile: Cementos Bío Bío has appointed Iñaki Otegui as its new CEO, effective 1 August 2013. Otegui replaces Jorge Matus, who has resigned after 39 years with the company.

Chile: Chilean cement-and-concrete firm Melon reported a 15.6% rise in revenue to US$458m in 2012. The Grupo Brescia subsidiary saw its profits rise by 3.13% to US$9.19m despite high electricity costs. The cement sector in Chile grew by 11% in 2012.