Displaying items by tag: Guatemala

Guatemala: Cementos Progreso says that its new San Gabriel cement plant is currently being tested. Plant manager Heber Barrios Valenzuela said that this stage of its set-up began in 2018 and will continue throughout 2019, according to the Prensa Libre newspaper. The unit had an investment of US$500m. Work on the project started in 2008 and construction work began in 2013.

The new integrated cement plant will have a clinker production capacity of 4500t/day when fully operational. Key features include a 1.5km conveyor from the quarry to the plant with a capacity of 1000t/hr. After raw material grinding, pre-heating, the kiln and the cooler the production line has a 70,000t clinker silo. This is followed by two vertical cement grinding mills, each with a capacity of 220t/hr. For packaging and despatch the plant has four cement silos. Two of these have a capacity of 10,000t for bulk cement. The other two have a capacity of 5000t for bagged cement. The plant also uses a 0.15Mm³ rainwater reservoir to store water to cool machinery.

Central America: The value of Chinese imports of cement grew by 2% year-on-year to US$77.1m in the first half of 2018 from US$75.6m in the same period in 2017. Nicaragua imported around US$28m, Guatemala US$18m, El Salvador US$12m, Honduras US$7m, Panama US$6m and Costa Rica imported around US$5m, according to CentralAmericaData.

El Salvador: Guatamala’s Cemento Regional has ordered a Plug&Grind modular grinding unit for a project in El Salvador. The project includes a Plug&Grind Classic, a modular packaging and palletising system, raw material and cement storage halls and silos for bulk dispatching. The new unit is scheduled to be commissioned in the first half of 2019. It will have a production capacity of 12t/hr.

Guatemala: The Inter-American Cement Federation (FICEM) has appointed Alejandro Ramírez Cantú, the chief executive of Cemex in the Dominican Republic, as its new president for the period 2017 – 2020 at its technical congress. He succeeds Gabriel Restrepo, manager of Institutional Affairs at Cementos Argos, in the role, according to the 7 Dias newspaper.

Ramírez Cantú is an industrial and systems engineer trained at the Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico and he holds a Master's Degree in business administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He joined Cemex in 2000 and he has directed operations in Thailand, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic.

Just before the end of 2012 Holcim sold shares in companies it owned in Thailand and Guatemala. It reduced its stake in Siam City Cement Company (SCCC) in Thailand from 36.8% to 27.5% and it sold its entire 20% minority stake in Cementos Progreso in Guatemala. For the sale of these two share packages Holcim received approximately Euro310m.

This is interesting given that Asia-Pacific was the Switzerland-based multinational's biggest sales area in 2011 and because sales of cement rose by 6% in Latin America in 2011. Similarly in 2012 from January to September the two regions propped up the group's profits. Why would Holcim sell stakes into two of its most profitable regions?

In its third quarter report in 2012 Holcim repeatedly described Thailand as 'encouraging' following floods in 2011. It added that it had focused increasingly on the cement market in the country and strengthened its position in neighbouring countries that resulted in lower clinker exports.

According to the Global Cement Directory 2013 SCCC has a capacity of 31Mt/yr, 65% of Thailand's total capacity of 48Mt/yr. SCCC predicted in December 2012 that domestic cement demand would increase by 5-10% in 2013. The company is currently planning to build new plants in Indonesia and Cambodia and is considering investing in Myanmar. In Indoniesia Holcim is the third biggest producer after Semen Gresik and HeidelbergCement subsidiary Indocement.

Meanwhile in Central America, Cementos Progreso was the sole producer in Guatemala with 2.5Mt/yr from two plants. This was set to double with the commissioning of a third plant towards the end of 2012. However, Holcim retains seven plants in southern Mexico (12Mt/yr), both of El Salvador's plants (2Mt/yr) and a plant in Costa Rica (1Mt/yr).

With Holcim's strong presence in Central America and the North American market reviving leaving Guatemala makes sense with the group's debt reduction programme in mind. The situation in Thailand is more complex, so unsurprisingly Holcim has reduced its stake rather than leaving completely. SCCC's expansion plans outside of Thailand suggest, that although growing, the market is maturing. In one such potential expansion target, Indonesia, Holcim is already a major producer.

In its press release announcing the sales in Thailand and Guatemala, Holcim attributed the decision to its ongoing debt reduction programme. As part of its 'Leadership Journey' the group intends to save Euro1.25bn by the end of 2014. Other savings in 2012 included reducing management in Europe, layoffs and closures in Australia, a plant closure in Hungary, further delays on the decision to build a new plant in New Zealand and layoffs in Spain. The management changes in Europe alone contributed a Euro99m chunk of Holcim's target saving of Euro124m for 2012.

Yet it's worth considering that a week after the sales of its shares Holcim's subsidiary in India, Ambuja Cements, announced investments of Euro277m in India. Perhaps the best way to save money is to make more money.