Displaying items by tag: Holcim Mexico
Mexico: Nearly 500 cement and concrete plants in the northern Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León and Sonora have partly or fully suspended production due to an on-going regional shortage of natural gas. The El Financiero newspaper reports that plants run by Grupo Cementos Chihuahua (GCC), Cemex, Holcim and Cruz Azul operate in this region.
GCC said that a lack of electricity and natural gas had affected production at three of its plants in Chihuahua, Samalayuca and Juárez. Mexican Association of the Ready-mix Concrete Industry (AMIC) president Ana Laura Burciaga said that the situation has caused a 50% drop in the cement supply to concrete plants.
The cause of the shortage is reported to be the suspension of natural gas exports from Texas, US. Mexican steel and automotive manufacturers have also been affected.
Holcim Mexico launches Holcim Supra Cement
04 February 2021Mexico: Holcim Mexico has launched its Holcim Supra range of cements. The company says that products contain a unique three-in-one technology for water repellence, construction optimisation and protection against environmental agents. It says that the use of Holcim Supra cements gives buildings greater sustainability compared to normal ordinary Portland cement (OPC).
Commercial Director Francisco Shwortshik said, “The new Holcim Supra Cement family are the latest in the market in innovation, with integrated three-in-one technology especially developed to protect buildings by reducing the passage of moisture in concrete. In addition to maintaining the attributes of the current
Holcim cement and mortar, they contribute to sustainable building by reducing CO2 emissions by up to 13% in the process of construction, which makes it an eco-friendly product.”
Chief executive officer Jaime Hill Tinoco said, "Innovation is key to reaching our goal of zero net emissions; this is why at Holcim México we have the strongest research and development organisation in the industry to present and promote consistently high-quality materials and solutions for our clients across the country - like Holcim Supra, a family of unique products on the market that will change Mexico’s way of building.”
Mexico: Holcim Mexico says that it supplied a record 70,000m3 of concrete to the Dos Bocas oil refinery in September 2020, bringing the total volume supplied since major infrastructure work began at the site in March 2020 to 300,000m3. El Norte News has reported that the company is supplying the project from three sites with a total capacity of 4000m3/day: the Paraíso, Refinería and Dos Bocas concrete plants. Holcim Mexico noted that, of the 215 employees involved in the project, 50% are women.
Chief executive officer (CEO) Jaime Hill Tinoco said, “Dos Bocas is one of the most important infrastructure works in the history of LafargeHolcim and Holcim Mexico.” Upon completion in late 2022, the company expects to have delivered 2.14Mm3 of concrete to the project.
Cement Industry Workers’ Union wins Hermosillo cement plant workers collective representation contract
02 September 2020Mexico: Workers at Holcim Mexico’s 1.6Mt/yr Hermosillo cement plant in Sonora have voted to award a contract for their collective union representation to Confederation of Workers of Mexico (CTM) member Cement Industry Worker’s Union (STIC). The El Economista newspaper has reported that 50 workers at the plant, which employs 95 people, voted for the STIC. The runner up, the National Union of Mine, Metal, Steel and Allied Workers of the Mexican Republic (SNTMMSSMR), garnered 17 votes.
The STIC said, “In the framework of this day, under an atmosphere of respect and civility, with rich and enthusiastic participation, the workers have chosen the Cement Industry Workers Union as responsible for continuing to represent with honour the workers of this noble industry."
Update on Mexico
23 October 2019Interesting 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.
Holcim Mexico to construct 0.7Mt/yr grinding plant in Yucatán
18 October 2019Mexico: Holcim Mexico has announced a forthcoming investment of US$40m in the construction of a 0.7Mt/yr grinding plant in the state of Yucátan. Jamie Hill Tinoco, general director of Holcim Mexico, said that the plant, which will receive clinker from Holcim Mexico’s Macuspana and Orizaba cement plants, signifies the company’s commitment to the state, enabling it to ‘optimise local solutions with greater benefits for customers and communities.’ The plant will be Holcim Mexico’s sole dedicated grinding unit in an integrated cement production apparatus totalling 11.8Mt/yr capacity.
Holcim has had a presence in Yucatán since 1992 through its Uman distribution centre.
Jaime Hill appointed head of Holcim Mexico
28 August 2019Mexico: LafargeHolcim has appointed Jaime Hill Tinoco as the new chief executive officer (CEO) of Holcim Mexico.
Hill, aged 50 years, was born in El Salvador. He holds a degree in Business Administration from the University of Georgetown in Washington DC. He joined LafargeHolcim in El Salvador in 1996, at first in marketing and sales. He was appointed Commercial Director in 2004 and then held the same position in Colombia. In 2015 he became CEO of Holcim Colombia.
Mexico: Holcim Mexico has won an award from the National Chamber of Cement (CANACEM) for reporting no accidents at its cement plants in 2018. The award was presented at CANACEM‘s XXXVI National Congress of Occupational Health and Safety in Chihuahua.
Holcim Mexico to invest up to US$50m in 2019
22 January 2019Mexico: Holcim Mexico plans to invest up to US$50m in 2019 as part of a project to improve plant efficiency and its Disensa distribution network. The subsidiary of LafargeHolcim said it wants to implement improvements at both its cement and ready-mix concrete plants, according to Reuters. It has a particular focus on reducing emissions. On the distribution side the building materials company said that its distribution business is a part of its long-term plan for Latin America.
Holcim Mexico to launch two new cement products
31 July 2018Mexico: Holcim Mexico is launching two new brands for the local market. Holcim Prefacem is targeted for precast concrete elements and Holcim Supercem, a Composite Class 40 Portland Cement, is aimed at ready-mix concrete plants. Both products were developed by the company’s Centre for Building Technological Innovation (CiTec ) and are being produced at its Ramos Arizpe plant. Holcim Prefacem and Holcim Supercem will be first available near to the Ramos Arizpe plant in the states of Chihuahua, Nuevo Leon, San Luis Potosi, Durango, Zacatecas, Tamaulipas and Coahuila.
"Innovation makes a difference. With the support of Holcim Mexico and LafargeHolcim worldwide, we aim to cover the needs of specific market segments, with products that enhance our clients’ profitability”, said Marco Maccarelli, Corporate Sales Director Cement and Retail of Holcim Mexico.