Displaying items by tag: Elementia

US: Dragon Products reportedly plans to lay off six employees at its Thomaston, Maine, cement plant later in 2024, in the plant’s on-going transition from cement production to distribution only. This will reduce the plant’s total employees to 20, down by 76% from 85 at the start of the year. Local press has reported that rising operating costs, including for energy and transport, led to the move.

The Thomaston plant continues to process ‘residual’ raw materials and has begun implementation of its new distribution strategy, taking delivery of 30,000t of bagged cement via the port of Searsport. A second delivery is scheduled for October 2024.

Spain: Cementos Portland Valderrivas (CPV) has appointed Jaime Rocha Font as its chief executive officer (CEO). He succeeds Pedro Carranza Andressen in the post, according to Alimarket-Construcción. Rocha Font is currently the CEO of Mexico-based Elementia and he will continue to hold this position. Elementia owns a controlling share of Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas (FCC), the parent company of CPV.

Rocha Font has been the head of Elementia since 2020. Prior to this he was the head of Elementia’s cement division, including subsidiaries Cementos Fortaleza and Giant Cement in the US, from 2015. He also held the position of president of the National Cement Chamber of Mexico between 2019 and 2022. Earlier in his career he spent over 20 years working for Holcim from 1992. He holds a degree in civil engineering from the Universidad Pontificia Católica de Chile and a master's degree in international economics from the Université Libre de Bruxelles amongst other qualifications.

US: A 43-year old worker died after sustaining severe injuries at Giant Cement’s Harleyville, South Carolina, cement plant on 21 July 2022. Local press has reported that the cause of the tragedy involved a conveyor belt at the plant.

El Salvador: Cementos Fortaleza is establishing a new 0.3Mt/yr cement plant at Acajutla in Sonsonate Department. The Diario El Mundo newspaper has reported that the subsidiary of Grupo Regalado and Mexico-based Elementia plans to commission the plant in eatly 2023. The company will invest US$40m in its construction. The plant will produce its cement from 20% El Salvadorean-produced raw materials and will primarily serve local consumption, with the possibility of also exporting some cement.

Grupo Regalado representative Marcos Regalado Nottebohm said “It is challenging to invest in a project of such magnitude. This has been a natural step between two large business groups of great renown.”

US: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed an administrative complaint and authorised a legal suit against Lehigh Cement’s acquisition of Keystone Cement. The HeidelbergCement subsidiary acquired the subsidiary of Mexico-based Elementia in September 2019. The commission said that the acquisition may be harmful to competition in the grey cement market in Pennsylvania and New Jersey as it reduces the number of competitors to three from four and enlarges the largest. It added that Keystone Cement’s aggressive pricing had previously caused Lehigh Cement to lower its prices.

The case will go to trial at administrative court in November 2021.

Mexico: Elementia recorded standalone net sales of US$363m in the first quarter of 2021, up by 18% year-on-year from US$309m in the first quarter of 2020. The group’s Mexican cement sales rose by 25% to US$74.9m from US$60.0m. Its US cement sales rose by 6% to US$58.9m from US$55.8m and its Central American sales rose by 18% to US$6.13m from US$5.19m. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 52% to US$51.2m from US$33.6m. In early March 2021 the group announced that it was starting a spin-off process to form a new company from its metals and building systems businesses as part of an ongoing corporate strategic reorganisation.

Mexico: Elementia sold 5.3Mt of cement in 2020, up by 4% year-on-year from 5.1Mt in 2019. Consolidated net sales rose by 8% to US$1.34bn from US$1.24bn, while earnings before interest, depreciation, taxation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 8% to US$170m from US$157m. Cement business sales rose in all regions with the exception of Central America with particular earnings growth record in the US.

The company also noted that the sale of its integrated Bath plant in Pennsylvania, US remained under review by competition authorities with a response hoped for in April 2021. The sale of the unit to HeidelbergCement-subsidiary Lehigh Hanson was first announced in September 2019.

Mexico: Elementia has announced the commissioning of a new 0.25Mt/yr grinding plant in Progreso, Yucatán State. The group says that the plant cost US$25m. Chief executive officer (CEO) Jaime Rocha Font said “Through this project, Elementia aims to participate in the growth of the Yucatán Peninsula and Southern Mexico.”

Mexico: Elementia has appointed María de Lourdes Barajas Flores as its chief financial officer (CFO). She succeeds Juan Francisco Sanchez Kramer who will leave the company to, “pursue new personal and professional opportunities.” Barajas Flores was the Director of Administration and Finance for the company’s cement division. Iris Josselin Fernandez Cruz, Elementia’s Head of Corporate Treasury will take over the responsibilities of the Investor Relations area.

US: Mexico-based Elementia has appointed Tim Kuebler as the leader of Elementia USA. He was already the chief executive officer (CEO) of the company’s cement business in the US and the enlarged role includes responsibility for Allura, the group’s local fibre cement business. Kuebler became the CEO of Elementia’s US-based cement business, Giant Cement, in late 2017. Prior to this he spent most of his 35-year career working at first for Lehigh Cement and then Titan America in locations across the US.