Displaying items by tag: Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua

Mexico: Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua (GCC) has joined other members of the UK-based Global Cement and Concrete Association(GCCA) in committing to carbon-neutral concrete production by 2050. The association launched the ambition in September 2020.

GCC chief executive officer Enrique Escalante said, “Sustainability is an important element of our long-term strategy. GCC is committed to implementing global best practices throughout the organisation while further strengthening the Company’s long-term profitability.”

Bolivia: A court has annulled a decision ordering Mexico-based Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua (GCC) to pay damages to Compania de Inversiones Mercantiles (CIMSA) for its alleged unlawful failure to grant it a right of preference before selling its 47% stake in Sociedad Boliviana de Cemento (SOBOCE). Global Newswire has reported that the company has announced that it will now take action in the US courts against an unfavourable ruling in October 2020.

Mexico: Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua (GCC) recorded nine-month net sales of US$705m in 2020, down slightly from US$706 in the same period of 2019. Operating earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 10% to US$227m from US$206.

Chief executive officer (CEO) Enrique Escalante said, “We experienced mixed demand for our products in most of our markets in Mexico and the US, however both exceeded our expectations from the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Looking forward, our backlog remains encouraging, while overall macro conditions show mixed signs, and short-term uncertainty prevails, mainly regarding Covid-19 outbreaks and weather. Therefore, our goal is to maintain our financial strength, keep people safe and employed, and to continue to serve GCC’s life blood - our invaluable customers.”

US: Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua’s (GCC) Rapid City plant in South Dakota is working with Black Hills Energy to use wind power for around 50% of its electricity requirements. GCC has joined Black Hills Energy’s Renewable Ready Program, which will supply energy for 15 years.

Black Hills Energy will build a wind-power generating facility in 2020 to supply the plant located near Cheyenne in Wyoming. The Corriedale Wind Energy Project is anticipated to produce energy by the first quarter of 2021 that will be shared with subscribers in South Dakota and Wyoming. The program was designed for large commercial and industrial customers and governmental agencies in the company’s electric service territories in South Dakota and Wyoming.

“By choosing low-cost renewable energy resources to power our business, we’re able to advance our business goals and sustainability objectives while also supporting the expansion of affordable, renewable energy development in the region,” said Ron Henley, US division president of GCC.

Mexico: Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua (GCC) says it will commit to setting greenhouse gas reduction targets in line with climate science by joining the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTI). GCC will set science-based emission reduction targets in line with the level of decarbonisation required to keep global temperature increase well-below 2°C compared to pre-industrial temperatures, as described in the latest Special Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

“By joining the SBTI, GCC will ensure that the company´s low-carbon transformation is aligned with climate science and is a further reflection of our unwavering commitment to implement global best practices related to sustainability,” said Enrique Escalante, GCC´s chief executive officer (CEO).

Mexico: Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua (GCC) has signed a 15-year power supply agreement with a Mexico-based solar energy provider. The Awareness Times newspaper has reported that the contract covers the supply of solar power to GCC’s 0.2Mt/yr Juarez cement plant in Chihuahua, as well as its head office and ready mix and aggregates operations, constituting roughly 20% of its electricity consumption. The agreement, which enters force on 1 January 2021, will save GCC US$2.5m/yr and cut 0.3Mt of CO2 emissions throughout its duration.

Mexico: Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua (GCC) reported a gross profit of US$188m in the third quarter of 2019, down by 4.8% compared to US$198m in the three months to 30 September 2018. GCC CEO Enrique Escalante stated that the company ‘overcame a difficult start to 2019’ with ‘record cement volumes in an increasingly competitive environment in certain markets’ and strengthened pricing. Sales rose 4.2% year-on-year to US$706m from US$677m, with US sales lagging behind the overall increase at 3.0% to US$515m from US$500m.

Interesting news from Holcim Mexico this week with the announcement that it is planning to invest US$40m towards building a 0.7Mt/yr grinding plant in the state of Yucátan. The unit will be supplied with clinker from Holcim Mexico’s Macuspana and Orizaba integrated cement plants. This follows the news in August 2018 that Elementia’s cement company, Cementos Fortaleza, had started to build a new 0.25Mt/yr grinding plant at Merida in Yucatan. That project has a budget of US$30m.

These two projects offer a contrast to comments made by the head of Cemex Mexico, Ricardo Naya Barba, who was lamenting the state of the market to local press at the start of the month. He said that sales volumes of cement, concrete and aggregates had fallen by 12 – 15% in the first seven months of 2019. He blamed the decline partly on falling national infrastructure investment. This marked a slight improvement on Cemex’s Mexican results for the first of 2019 where sales, sales volumes and earnings were all down. At this time as well as slowing infrastructure projects the situation was also attributed to a residential sector hit by the slower-than anticipated start of the new programs.

Elementia’s Mexican cement business, Cementos Fortaleza, reported a similar picture in the second quarter of 2019. Its net sales fell by 6% year-on-year to US65.4m from US$69.7m. This was attributed to a market contraction affecting all of Elementia’s businesses in the country, as well as the redefinition of its core products for the Building Systems business unit. Earnings fell also and this was further attributed to mounting energy and freight costs. Cementos Moctezuma faced many of the same issues. Its cement sales fell by 13% to US$147m in the second quarter of 2019. It is expecting a similar picture for the remainder of the year.

Data from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) shows that the value of cement sales in Mexico fell by 7% year-on-year to US$1.21bn in the first quarter of 2019 from US$1.30bn in the same period in 2018. Cement sales volumes fell by 8.2% to 10.9Mt from 11.9Mt. This was the lowest figure since 2014.

The one larger Mexican cement producer that doesn’t seem to have been overly troubled so far in 2019 is Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua (GCC). Earlier in the year the company was considered to be the Mexican cement producer most at risk from potential US tariffs due to higher reliance on exports than its competitors. Yet Mexico’s National Chamber of Cement (CANACEM) publicly said that that it didn’t consider US tariffs a significant barrier to the local industry. GCC reported growing net sales and cement sales volumes in the second quarter of 2019 due to industrial warehouse construction, mining projects and middle-income housing at the northern cities.

Two new grinding plants in a particular region of Mexico don’t necessarily reflect the state of the country’s industry as a whole. Yucatan may suit the grinding model due to a lack of raw materials or strong shipping links. The region may also be defying the gloomy national state of affairs in the construction sector. Alternatively, producers may be chasing low-cost and low-risk expansion plans in a tough market. The grinding model wins out over the clinker producing one in this scenario. In the wider picture in August 2019 Cemento Cruz Azul ordered two petcoke grinding mills from Germany’s Loesche and Austria’s Unitherm Cemcon said it had been awarded the supply of an MAS DT burner to an unnamed cement plant. These suggest that, although the sector may be having a bad year so far, things are expected to get better.

UK: The Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) has launched ‘Innovandi,’ a research network between industry and scientific institutions. The network intends to research the areas of process technology, including the impact of co-processing, efficiency of clinker production and implementation of CCUS/ technologies, and products. This will include the impact of clinker substitutes and alternative binders in concrete, low carbon concrete technology and improve the understanding of CO₂ reduction through re-carbonation.

“Our industry is fully committed to taking action to reduce CO₂ emissions. As such, Innovandi is an industry led initiative and will bring together the best minds from all corners of the cement and concrete world, academia and business. Together we will truly collaborate on a global scale and use our expertise to find new ways of working and developing effective innovations,” said Benjamin Sporton, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the GCCA.

24 companies from the cement and concrete industry, including cement and concrete manufacturers, admixture specialists and equipment suppliers, have committed to the initiative, with scientific institutions and additional companies set to join as its work begins work. These include Buzzi Unicem, Cementir Holding, Cementos Argos, Cementos Molins, Cementos Pacasmayo, Cemento Progresso, Cemex, CNBM, Chryso, CRH, Dalmia Cement, FLSmidth, Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua (GCC), GCP Applied Technologies, Mapei, HeidelbergCement, LafargeHolcim, Nesher Israel Enterprises, SCG Cement, Titan Cement, Refratechnik Cement, Sika Technology, Subote New Materials and Votorantim.

As part of the new initiative, the GCCA also intends to establish an annual Innovandi global conference to promote collaboration on innovation and research in the sector.

US: Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua’s 0.9Mt/yr integrated cement plant in Odessa, Texas, will run entirely on wind and solar power. Adpren has reported that the company engaged an unnamed energy provider on a 10-year power purchase agreement for the entirety of its electricity consumption, beginning in July 2022. This will cut 45,000t/yr of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and represents a saving of US$4.6m in energy costs over its period of effect, a saving of 22% annually compared to Grupo Cemento’s current bill.