Displaying items by tag: Colombia
Argos Panama joins reforestation programme
02 July 2015Panama: According to Esmerk Latin American News, as part of its sustainability and environmental responsibility programme, Colombia's Cementos Argos, via its local subsidiary Argos Panama, has joined the 'Alianza por el Millon' (Alliance for a Million) project that seeks to reforest 10,000km2 of land in Panama over the next 20 years.
The project is promoted by local nature conservation agency, Asociacion Nacional para la Conservacion de la Naturaleza (Ancon) and is also supported by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP), the Ministry of Farming Development (MIDA), the Commerce, Industry and Agriculture Chamber in Panama (CCIAP) and the association of reforesting companies in Panama, Anarap. Argos Panama has pledged to provide around US$100,000 to reforest some 100,000m2 of forest over the next five years. It is estimated that about 200km2/yr of forest is lost in Panama due to de-forestation.
Colombia: Cemex Latam Holdings, the Latin American arm of Mexico's Cemex, has reported unfavourable results in the first quarter of 2015 in Colombia and said that its stocks have been affected, despite the fact that the region turned towards infrastructure improvement projects. As the company's share value in Pesos has dropped by 30% and it has recorded another 35% decline due to depreciation, Cemex Latam Holdings' value in US Dollars is 70% lower.
Company president Carlos Jacks has attributed the poor results in January - March 2015 to the 25% depreciation against the US Dollar, as well as the fact that its 31% growth in 2014 was far higher than the industry average. Another factor was the decision that Colombia should return or generate the same cash flow or the same amount of US Dollars before the depreciation and so it raised its prices, thinking that there would not be a reversal of the exchange rate.
Cemex Latam Holdings will work to recover the price in June 2015 and Jacks feels more confident about the second half of the year. Better sales volumes are expected if its efforts are successful. The company hopes that its local division will return to levels prior to the depreciation of the exchange rate in terms of its cash flow in US Dollars as a result. The business anticipates some momentum in housing programmes over 2016, as well as participation in the first wave of 4G motorway projects and possibly the second wave towards the close of 2015. It projects that around US$5bn/yr will be spent on cement, or US$500m each, while the projects will require some 3.50Mt of cement. The entire market consumes 13Mt/yr of cement. Cemex Latam Holdings will invest around US$180m in 2015 and the funds will mainly be used to expand the production capacity at its plant in Maceo, Colombia or premises in Monterrey, Mexico.
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.
Colombia: Cementos Argos' net profit rose by 3.3% year-on-year to US$29m in the first quarter of 2015, which ended on 31 March 2015, due to increased sales in the US. The company posted an increase in income despite higher sales costs.
Its consolidated income rose by 28% to US$630m, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) jumped by 18% to US$121m, the highest in the company's history. The increases were due principally to growth in the US, where cement income rose by 31% to US$264m.
"Today, 60% of Cementos Argos' income is generated outside of Colombia," said chief executive Jorge Mario Velasquez. "Added to the solid results in all our operations, dispatched volumes and generated EBITDA, we can be optimistic about 2015."
Costs for the company rose by 33.3% year-on-year to US$469m in the first quarter because of bad weather in the US and increased transportation costs in Colombia caused by a brief truckers' strike.
Meanwhile, Jaime Hill Tinoco, president of Holcim Colombia, has confirmed the company's upcoming projects, which include the second stage of the connection between Puente Aereo (Terminal 2) and the new terminal at El Dorado airport in Bogota, La Felicidad shopping centre and a residential development in Madrid (Cundimarca). Hill said that Holcim will install plants at the building sites and added that it will also supply cement for the construction of a Grupo Carso mall in Bogota.
With regards to infrastructure projects, Hill said that Holcim is participating in the construction of the Bogota-Villavicencio road and in the second section of the Ruta del Sol road project. He added that the expansion of infrastructure initiatives would benefit the cement sector, improving the transport of material.
In January - March 2015, Holcim Colombia posted a sales increase of 5%, below the national industry's average growth rate of 7.5%. Hill said that the difference was due to the truckers' strike, which forced distribution to be halted for a week. The company has forecast a 5% sales rise by the end of 2015, representing 15% of the 12.5Mt tonnes of cement that the industry expects to produce during the year. By 2020, it is expected that Colombia will produce 15Mt/yr of cement.
Cemex brings forward Caracolito cement plant expansion
07 April 2015Colombia: The corporate affairs vice president of Cemex in Colombia, Daniel Suarez, has said that the company is bringing forward the expansion of its Caracolito plant, which is responsible for 30% of Colombia's cement supply.
The project includes the expansion of the existing quarry with an additional 110,000m2 of land, a complete reconstruction of the kilns and the replacement of the air treatment filters. Cemex will also open a new plant in the northeast of Antioquia.
Cemex's Colombian sales have exceeded 1Mt/month in recent months, driven by projects like '4G motorways' and housing schemes. Cemex does not export any cement from Colombia. 65% of its revenues in the country come from individuals who buy cement to either build new rooms for their homes or build a home by themselves. 35% is sold to construction firms.
Cementos Argos records ‘historic results’ in 2014
26 March 2015Colombia/US: Cementos Argos recorded 'historic' results in terms of both income and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in 2014. Income grew to US$2.9m, a year-on-year rise of 17%, while EBITDA hit US$534m, a rise of 8%. The company reported record cement sales of 12.5Mt. Its net profit went up by 59%.
The company's improved performance can, in large part, be attributed to Cementos Argos' enlarged footprint in the United States, where it increased cement production capacity by 107% year-on-year in 2014. The company is now the second-largest cement produer in the southeastern US and the country's second-largest concrete producer. Its strong performance is expected to continue, with the Portland Cement Association (PCA) anticipating year-on-year cement consumption growth of 12% in 2015.
"We see the next decade as the period in which Cementos Argos will see even greater rewards from the largest investments ever made by a Colombian company in the United States, which, jointly, reached a value of more than US$2.2bn," said Jorge Mario Velásquez, CEO of Cementos Argos. "These investments were consistent with our coherent strategy that was carried out with a great degree of discipline and at an opportune moment by taking advantage of a favourable exchange rate."
The company has also consolidated its presence in Central America and the Caribbean, after acquiring new assets in French Guiana for Euro50m and successfully integrating its operations in Honduras. As this is a region that receives a lot of remittances with currencies that are mostly tied to the US Dollar and the drop in oil prices further favours its economies, the countries in the region will also benefit from the upward trend of the North American economy.
Additionally, in Colombia, the company kept its leading position in a dynamic market driven by housing and infrastructure construction. Cementos Argos is participating in more than 70% of the infrastructure projects being carried out within the country and in 60% percent of the free homes programme being implemented by its national government.
Colombia competition investigation to end soon
11 March 2015Colombia: Colombia's Superintendent of Industry and Commerce (SIC) is expected to issue a final ruling on its on-going competition investigation into the local cement industry. SIC intends to announce its findings by the middle of 2015 according to comments SIC head Pablo Felipe Robledo del Castillo made to local press. Meanwhile, Robledo also said he plans to present a bill on 16 March 2015 that would strengthen the sanctions for anticompetitive practices in Colombia.
"This rule will allow us to increase the sanctions above the nominal amount of US$25m, the current maximum, by adding percentages of a company's revenues or equity, in order to bolster the penalties," said Robledo.
SIC announced in late 2013 that it was investigating whether executives at Colombian cement companies had colluded to inflate cement prices in country since as early as 2010. The investigation targeted 14 current and former top directors at five firms, including Cementos Argos, Cemex and Holcim.
Cementos Argos’ net profit up 58.8% in 2014
26 February 2015Colombia: Cementos Argos' net profit rose by 58.8% in 2014 compared to 2013 due to an increase in domestic sales and sales in the US, which are expected to continue in 2015. Profit was up to US$145m compared to US$73.7m in 2013.
"In our opinion, 2015 will be a year when construction and demand for cement will maintain their positive dynamic," said CEO Jose Alberto Velez. He highlighted Colombian government spending on public housing and highways. "We project that volumes will grow by a high rate in infrastructure and a medium rate in housing."
For its US division, Cementos Argos is 'very optimistic' and anticipates doubling 2014's US$68m in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA). Velez said the company estimates EBITDA in the region will reach US$120 – 130m in 2015. Operating income was up by 16.8% to US$2.9bn in 2014, while total EBITDA was up by 8.4% to US$534m. Cement sales were up by 8% in 2014 to 12.5Mt. In 2014 Cementos Argos made acquisitions valued at US$785m and invested US$230m in expansion and modernisation.
Cemex condemns assassination of its head of security
04 February 2015Colombia: Cemex has condemned a recent attack that resulted in the death of Clavijo Rojas, head of Cemex security, near to a cement plant that it is building in Maceo, Magdalena Medio. Cemex executives want local authorities to investigate the incident so that the criminals can be apprehended. Clavijo Rojas, a 50 year old German citizen, was travelling in a car with another person when they were fired upon, possibly by a guerrilla group or by those linked to organised crime. Cemex said that it had not received any threats or demands in this area.
Cementos Argos persists with waste tyres scheme
02 February 2015Colombia: Cementos Argos innovation vice-president Camilo Restrepo has persisted with a project to use waste tyres as an alternative fuel in Colombia. Some 120,000 - 130,000/yr tyres are wasted in Colombia.
Cementos Argos is already using waste tyres as fuel in the US and Honduras and says that the same will be done in Colombia. It put forward its plans to local associations and has been discussing these for five years. Cementos Argos could use 60,000 - 70,000t/yr. Its kilns will have to be adapted at cost of US$5 – 20m each. It will start with its unit in Rioclaro, where tests are underway already. The plant can use 15,000 - 20,000t/yr of waste tyres.