Displaying items by tag: Mexico

Mexico: GCC increased its sales revenue by 11% year-on-year to US$320m in the second quarter of 2022. Its US cement sales volumes rose by 6%, with a 10% rise in prices, while its Mexico cement volumes fell by 2.3%, with a 12% rise in prices. The group’s cost of sales was US$220m, 69% of total sales, compared to 67% in the second quarter of 2021.

Mexico: Cemex’s consolidated sales grew by 9% year-on-year to US$7.85bn in the first half 2022 from US$7.2bn in the same period in 2021. It sold 32.1Mt of cement, down by 4% from 33.6Mt. Its cement sales volumes rose by 4% in its US and by 1% in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, but fell by 10% in Mexico and by 3% in South and Central America and the Caribbean. The group says that record levels of alternative fuel usage and a lowered clinker factor helped it to reduce its total CO₂ emissions by 3% year-on-year in the reporting period.

Chief executive officer Fernando González said “I am pleased that our pricing strategy is yielding results and has fully offset inflationary costs in the second quarter of 2022. With improved supply chain dynamics and continued success of our pricing and cost containment strategies, we remain confident we can recover 2021 margins. 


Mexico: State police have intervened during a confrontation between rival groups for control of Cruz Azul’s Tula cement plant in Hidalgo. A group of workers, allegedly numbering 1000 people, aligned to the faction that controls the majority of Cruz Azul’s cement plants travelled to the site in Jasso by bus and taxi on the evening of 26 July 2022, according to La Jornada newspaper. Another group defending the plant reportedly blocked local roads and used sticks, pipes and stones to repel the assault. The police managed to deter most of the convoy travelling to the plant. However, eight deaths occurred when some of the attackers made it through.

The Tula cement plant is the sole remaining Cruz Azul unit still controlled by former company director Guillermo ‘Billy’ Álvarez and his associates. The rest of the company is under the command of Cruz Azul’s directors José Antonio Marín and Víctor Manuel Velázquez.

Mexico: Beumer Group has won a contract to supply Cooperativa La Cruz Azul’s cement plants with 14 new 5500 – 6000 bag/hr palletisers. The cement company made the decision to modernise palletising operations at its plants following a law change requiring cement to be packaged in 25kg bags, instead of 50kg, from the start of 2023. Beumer Group plans to deliver the first five palletisers in the third quarter of 2022. The other nine machines will follow by 2023.

The supplier said “Cruz Azul and Beumer Group have had a trustful and successful partnership for decades. The system provider has convinced with its highly developed and sustainable technology and a sophisticated concept, which will enable the cement manufacturer to achieve the required performance in its packaging terminal” It continued “Covid-19 presented a particular challenge in this project. Due to the pandemic, it was not possible for Beumer experts to be on site with the customer in person. All concepts were discussed, debated and agreed online and with the support of the local group company in Mexico City.”

Mexico: Cemex has launched a Green Financing Framework. The framework is intended to allow the building materials producer to issue green financing instruments aligned with the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) Green Bond Principles and the Loan Market Association Green Loan Principles. Under the Framework, Cemex intends to allocate the net proceeds from the issuances to finance eligible green projects in areas such as CO₂ emissions reduction, clean electricity and energy efficiency, clean transportation, water management, air quality, circular economy and waste management. The framework reflects the roadmap and objectives of Cemex's climate action program, Future in Action. Cemex says it is the first of its kind in the building materials sector.

“After launching our Sustainability-Linked Financing Framework in 2021, it is only natural for us to build on that initiative with additional sustainable finance innovation in the form of the Green Financing Framework, that will enable the building of a more resilient future for all,” said Maher Al-Haffar, Cemex's Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and founding member of the United Nations Global Compact CFO Coalition for the Sustainable Development Goals.

Mexico: The Mexican Federal Economic Competition Commission (COFECE) has fined Cemex US$89,000 for failing to notify it of a transaction that exceeded the threshold for notification. COFECE also approved the transaction in question.

Cemex has the right to seek legal recourse against the fine.

Mexico: Cooperativa La Cruz Azul has taken to Twitter to thank the executive and judicial authorities of Mexico City for their work in dismantling the criminal network which had previously taken control of the producer. Prosecutors have indicted former Cooperativa La Cruz Azul legal director Victor N, who went into hiding in July 2020, and an alleged accomplice, Joel N.

Mexico: Holcim and Habitat for Humanity have launched a digital platform for affordable housing renovations in the states of Bajio and Veracruz. Holcim expects the software to help to develop a sustainable and healthy built environment where everyone has a decent dwelling. The partners now plan to expand the platform to cover the rest of the Americas and the Asia Pacific region.

Germany: Cemex has inaugurated the Carbon Neutral Alliance at its integrated Rüdersdorf cement plant. The initiative is intended to accelerate the development of the site into the world’s first carbon-neutral cement facility by 2030. Jörg Steinbach, Brandenburg’s Minister of the Economy, Fernando A Gonzalez, the chief executive officer of Cemex, the Mexican ambassador to Germany and representatives from Sasol attended the event.

The Carbon Neutral Alliance comprises a network of over 20 private and public organisations, dedicated to industrial decarbonisation. Among the technologies being introduced at Rüdersdorf include a waste heat recovery project scheduled for the summer of 2022, the development of renewable energy generation and a scheme to produce aviation fuel onsite in coordination with Sasol and Enertrag.

In 2020 Cemex announced its decarbonisation target of reducing its CO₂ emissions by 40% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. This target is expected to be achieved in Europe in 2022. By 2030, Cemex intends to reduce emissions at its European sites by 55%, in line with European Union's new strategy to reduce CO₂ emissions. Cemex has also announced its goal to achieve net-zero carbon emissions in concrete by 2050.

Mexico: GCC has announced its plan for a 100% Portland limestone cement (PLC) transition of its Samalayuca, Chihuahua, cement plant. The producer says that the plant will complete its transition in July 2022. It said that the move is part of its CO₂ emissions reduction roadmap.