Displaying items by tag: Mexico

Mexico: Holcim subsidiary Holcim Mexico has inaugurated its new 650,000t/yr cement grinding plant at Umán in Yucatán. The cost of the project was US$40m. The plant will receive clinker from its integrated plants at Macuspana in Tabasco, and Orizaba in Veracruz. The producer says that the plant will optimise delivery times for cement customers in the area. It says that it will create 400 local jobs.

General director Jaime Hill Tinoco said, “At Holcim we are very proud to continue growing with the community, as well as to continue promoting well-being in the region through the creation of direct jobs, infrastructure and investment with this new grinding plant that, as I pointed out on the day that the first stone was laid, will strengthen national and foreign investments in benefit of the growth of the region.”

Mexico/UK: Cemex has promoted its Vertua admixtures in the UK, with the launch of next generation products in the range. The producer says that Vertua admixtures used in conjunction with its grinding aids, cement enhancers, super plasticisers and accelerators further reduce the carbon footprints of these products. It called green admixtures a ‘fundamental enabler of key innovations’ which will accelerate sustainable urbanisation.

Europe, Middle East and Africa regional urbanisation solutions vice president Marcelo Catalá said, “Cemex’s Vertua range of next generation admixtures, together with our broader array of low carbon, resource-efficient urbanisation solutions, will contribute considerably to building alongside our customers a better and more sustainable future for the cities in which we live.”

Mexico: The municipal administration of Atotonilco de Tula, Hidalgo province, has given US$3050 to Cemex to help with the running of its Ecomunidad recycling initiative. In June 2021, the initiative involves recycling collection at 11 Cemex sites and has educated 11,000 people. Since its foundation at 20 local schools in 2019, the initiative has recycled 37t of plastic waste.

Mexico: Cemex has concluded the sale of subordinated notes with a value of US$1.0bn. The company says that it will use the proceeds from the bonds sale for various purposes, including debt repayment.

Chief financial officer Maher Al-Haffar said, “The purpose of this transaction is to further Cemex in its pursuit of an investment grade capital structure and a commensurate leverage ratio.”

US: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed an administrative complaint and authorised a legal suit against Lehigh Cement’s acquisition of Keystone Cement. The HeidelbergCement subsidiary acquired the subsidiary of Mexico-based Elementia in September 2019. The commission said that the acquisition may be harmful to competition in the grey cement market in Pennsylvania and New Jersey as it reduces the number of competitors to three from four and enlarges the largest. It added that Keystone Cement’s aggressive pricing had previously caused Lehigh Cement to lower its prices.

The case will go to trial at administrative court in November 2021.

Mexico: Cemex says that it has supplied its low-CO₂ Vertua concrete to 786 construction works in Mexico. The El Sol de San Luis newspaper has reported that the volume so far delivered totals 33,000m³. In late May 2021, 398 further projects have placed orders for future deliveries.

Mexico: Cement production in Mexico grew by 24% year-on-year to 56Mt in 2020. This was its highest figure in the last five years, according to BNamericas. Data from INEGI, Mexico’s national institute of statistics, shows that production in January 2021 grew by 14.5% year-on-year to 4.2Mt. Yanina Navarro, the director of the National Cement Chamber (CANACEM), said that consumption changed in 2020 to favour bagged cement over bulk. She added that cement production was allowed to continue through coronavirus-related lockdowns in 2020 as it was classified as an ‘essential’ industry.

Mexico: Cemex has partnered with UK-based oil company BP to accelerate the progress of its ambition for net-zero CO₂ concrete by 2050. The partners have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop cement production and transport decarbonisation solutions. Such solutions include the transition to reduced-emissions power and vehicles, energy efficiency-improvements, carbon capture and storage (CCS) and carbon offsetting. In addition, the companies will collaborate on urbanisation solutions to decarbonise cities.

Sustainability, commercial, and operations development executive vice president Juan Romero said “Concrete plays an integral role in society, and there are no substitutes for its key attribute – strength and resilience. We believe it will continue to have a critical role in a low carbon economy, and the challenge for the industry is to find solutions to the manufacturing process emissions.” He added “This initiative with BP is another example of the work we are doing with partners across industries, academia, and startups to tap into the latest innovation and disruptive technology to achieve our ambition of delivering net-zero CO₂ concrete globally to all of our customers.”

Mexico: Elementia recorded standalone net sales of US$363m in the first quarter of 2021, up by 18% year-on-year from US$309m in the first quarter of 2020. The group’s Mexican cement sales rose by 25% to US$74.9m from US$60.0m. Its US cement sales rose by 6% to US$58.9m from US$55.8m and its Central American sales rose by 18% to US$6.13m from US$5.19m. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 52% to US$51.2m from US$33.6m. In early March 2021 the group announced that it was starting a spin-off process to form a new company from its metals and building systems businesses as part of an ongoing corporate strategic reorganisation.

Mexico: Cemex has reported that its sales in the first quarter of 2021 came to US$3.41bn, a 9% rise year-on-year compared to the first quarter of 2020. Its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) improved by 28% to US$684m due to a boost in cement sales volumes and higher prices. Its net income for the first quarter was US$665m.

Cemex’s net sales in Mexico increased by 19% to US$822m, while operating cash flow increased 27% to US$299m. Its US operations reported net sales of US$1.0bn, an increase of 5% compared to the same period in 2020. Its operating cash flow in the US increased by 21% to US$196m.

In the group’s Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia region, sales grew by 2% reaching US$1.09bn, while EBITDA was US$113m, 3% higher year-on-year. In Central, South America and the Caribbean, Cemex’s net sales came to US$424m, an increase of 15% compared to the same period in 2020.

Commenting on the results, Cemex’s chief executive officer Fernando González Olivieri said, "We achieved some important objectives and made significant progress towards our Operation Resilience goals, despite the persistent challenges that Covid has caused in many markets. The performance during the first quarter convinces me that we must be entering a period of sustainable growth for our main markets and it is likely that we will achieve two of our Operation Resilience goals well in advance of the 2023.