Displaying items by tag: Paraguay

Paraguay: Industria Nacional del Cemento (INC) has suspended cement production and despatches at its Vallemí cement plant in Concepción. The La Nación newspaper has reported that torrential rain washed away raw materials stocks stored at the site. INC expects the plant to remain shut until 17 March 2023. It reassured customers that its Villeta grinding plant will continue to despatch cement as usual. CEO Ernesto Benítez said that it was 'inconceivable' that the suspension would not disrupt the domestic cement supply, given INC's 40% market share.

Paraguay: Ernesto Julián Benítez Petters, the president of Industria Nacional del Cemento (INC), has reassured the market that the company can continually to operate normally despite low water levels in the Paraguay River. He reported that, in the fourth quarter of 2022, boats were loading with 1.5m of draft, according to the Última Hora newspaper. This has meant that barges can only accommodate around half of their normal capacity. Benítez Petters added that it is uncertain when the river will recover its previously normal water levels.

The state-owned cement producer says it has enough raw materials to keep its plant operating at Villeta as it has used more barges to cope. It also conducted maintenance works at the docks of both its Viletta and Vallemí plants in 2021. Widening work at the Paso Queso on the river is a long term goal of the government.

Paraguay: Cementos Concepción says that it will begin to commercially supply cement to Paraguay's major cities in early December 2022. The La Nación newspaper producer commissioned its US$300m Concepción cement plant in November 2022. It now operates with a production capacity of 20m 42.5kg bags annually.

Paraguay: Cementos Concepción (CECON), a company belonging to the Cartes Group, has begun commissioning its US$300m cement plant in the Concepción Department. Test bags are currently being made, with commercial operations expected in late 2022 or early 2023.

Jorge Méndez, CECON's manager said that the test production represented an ‘historic day for the production of 100% Paraguayan cement.’ He added, “Cementos Concepción will bring many benefits to the country. Paraguay needs many infrastructure works, but the deficit of the lack of cement always played against us.”

The 1.0Mt/yr plant was built with the support of nine Paraguayan banks. Méndez emphasised that the cement plant is now generating labour in the ‘forgotten’ Department of Concepción.

Paraguay: Cementos Concepción (CECON) has started commissioning its new plant at San Lázaro in the Concepción department by grinding raw material. Alexander Gonzalez, the project manager for the plant, told La Nación newspaper that start-up of the unit had been successful and that the process would now continue along the production line. The plant’s kiln is expected to start operation in October 2022.

Paraguay: State-owned Industria Nacional del Cemento (INC) says that its Vallemi plant has suffered a grinding mill breakdown due to an ‘engine failure.’ The producer reassured customers that the issue will not affect the plant’s regular dispatches of cement.

Paraguay: Industria Nacional del Cemento (INC) says that it will not increase its cement prices despite the high cost of petcoke. The state-owned producer reports that both increasing international prices for the fuel and logistical challenges, such as varying river water levels, have raised overall prices. It added that stopping production would cause negative impacts to both the construction sector and the local economy.

Paraguay: Industria Nacional del Cemento (INC) says it has developed new software in-house to manage its weighbridges. The new system it intended to supply reports in real time about truck and material movements at its plants. Use of the new system started in July 2021.

Paraguay: Cartes Group subsidiary Cementos Concepción says that construction of its San Lázaro, Concepción, cement plant is 70% complete and on track for a commissioning date in August 2022. The La Nación newspaper has reported that the total investment value of the project is US$200m. President José Ortiz said that two issues had been overcome in staying on schedule, namely the Covid-19 outbreak and low flow of the river on which the new plant will be situated, both of which presented logistical problems. Work also continues on the establishment of a dedicated power plant for the plant at Vallemí.

Paraguay: Cementos Concepción (Cecon) says that its new 1Mt/yr integrated Concepción cement plant in San Lazaro will start commissioning in June 2022. Regular production is expected to start in August 2022. The Hoy newspaper reports that the project recently secured the last phase of its funding. It has a total investment of US$240m.