Displaying items by tag: Jamaica

Venezuela: Caribbean Cement Company, a subsidiary of the TCL Group, has entered into an agreement to supply 100,000t of clinker to Venezuela from December 2013 to April 2014. This arrangement was facilitated under the compensation mechanism of the Petrocaribe Agreement where the government of Jamaica could repay the loan to Venezuela with goods and services in lieu of cash.

This contract is the outcome of more than three years of negotiations between Caribbean Cement, the government of Jamaica and the government of Venezuela. What started as an initiative to export cement ended instead in an agreement to supply clinker.

Caribbean Cement will export 20,000t/month of clinker to Pertigalete, Venezuela. The company will continue negotiations to continue to supply clinker after April 2014. The company said in a statement "Caribbean Cement is pleased to be a trailblazer in setting a precedent for other goods and services to be negotiated under the compensation mechanism of the Petrocaribe."

Venezuela/Jamaica: Venezuela's Minister of Petroleum and mining Rafael Ramirez is 'listening' to a proposal Jamaica has made to pay for its debts to Petróleos de Venezuela, SA (PDVSA). Jamaican minister Phillip Paulwell made the offer to tackle debts of US$350m raised under the Petrocaribe agreement between the nations where Venezuela supplies oil. However, Caracas-based newspaper El Nacional has reported doubts that Caribbean Cement Co would be able to meet the level of cement exports to Venezuela required to meet the Gran Mision Vivienda state housing programme.

PDVSA currently ships 26,000 barrels/day of oil to Jamaica's state energy company Petrojam. The Petrocaribe agreement includes Antigua, Barbuda, Bahamas, Belice, Cuba, Dominica, Granada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haití, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic Dominicana, San Cristóbal & Nieves, San Vicente & Granadinas, St Lucia and Suriname.

Trinidad & Tobago: For the first quarter of 2013, Trinidad Cement (TCL) recorded earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of US$17.8m. The result represented a significant improvement over TCL's results for the same period of 2012. The first quarter 2013 EBITDA represents 74% of its EBITDA for the whole of 2012.

Revenue for the quarter increased by US$18.3m compared with the same period of 2012 as a result of higher cement sales volumes. Volumes increased by 52% in Trinidad & Tobago, by 7% in Jamaica and by 29% in export markets. It was helped by higher selling prices in most markets.

TCL said that, as a result of the significant expenditure made in the latter part of 2012, plant performance has been more reliable and efficient, with clinker production exceeding prior year by 32%. Part of this is due to a prolonged TCL strike in 2012. Cement production was up by 21% year-on-year.

As a consequence of the above factors, TCL has reported a net profit after tax for the first quarter of 2013 of US$$2.22m compared with a net loss of US$11.7m in the same quarter of 2012.

Looking ahead the company says that the Trinidad & Tobago market has recorded very strong demand and it is anticipated that this will continue. While it saw a declining demand trend in Jamaica and Barbados, it is hoped that growth will return to these markets following elections in Barbados and the conclusion of an IMF agreement in Jamaica. In addition, TCL said that the growth being experienced in Guyana and Suriname and the initiatives by the group in the pursuit of additional export markets, plant efficiency and cost containment, are likely to contribute to the continuation of its good results for the coming months.