Displaying items by tag: Caribbean Cement
Caribbean Cement’s results pick up in 2018
25 February 2019Jamaica: Caribbean Cement’s revenue rose year-on-year by 6% to US$133m in 2018 from US$125m in 2017. Its profit more than doubled to US$18.7m to US$8.4m.
Caribbean Cement takes out US$3bn loan to pay off debts
12 December 2018Jamaica: Caribbean Cement has taken out a five-year loan for US$3bn from the National Commercial Bank Jamaica to repay debt. It also said that some of the loan would be used for general corporate purposes, according in the Gleaner newspaper. The cement producer is also planning to expand its gypsum and limestone operations at two sites but it is unknown if the new borrowing will be used to fund this. The latest loan follows a US$102m loan from its parent company, Cemex España in June 2018.
Jamaica: Cemex España, a subsidiary of Cemex, has agreed to lend Caribbean Cement US$102m to purchase assets mainly consisting of the Kiln 5 and Mill 5 processes at its plant at Rockfort plant Kingston. Any remaining funds will be used for ‘general corporate purposes.’ In May 2018 Caribbean Cement signed an agreement to buy plant equipment from its parent company Trinidad Cement for US$118m that was originally leased to it. Cemex owns a controlling stake in both companies.
Jamaica: Caribbean Cement has signed an agreement to buy plant equipment from its parent company Trinidad Cement. The US$118m deal includes kiln and mill equipment being used at Caribbean Cement’s Rockfort plant in Kingston. The equipment was previously leased to Caribbean Cement in 2010.
Jamaica: Caribbean Cement plans to raise the production of gypsum and limestone from its quarries. It intends to increase the size of its Halberstadt Gypsum Quarry to 200,000t/yr and build a new 800,000t/yr limestone quarry at Harbour Head, according to the Gleaner newspaper. Both quarries will be near to the cement producer’s plant at Rockfort in Kingston. The plan requires approval from the National Environment & Planning Agency.
Caribbean Cement says that the expansions to its quarrying operations are required to secure supply of these materials. It has not commented on the size of the investment required for the project. Its quarries are operated through a subsidiary, Jamaica Gypsum & Quarries.
Colin Steele elected as director of Caribbean Cement
19 July 2017Jamaica: Colin Steele has been elected as a director of Caribbean Cement. However, the board of directors of the cement producer tried to block the appointment by changing the company’s articles of incorporation that required at least two Jamaican-based directors, according to the Jamaica Observer. The company had been without a second Jamaican-domiciled director since the resignation of its former chairman Chris Dehring in 2016. Minority shareholders of the company supported Steele’s appointment.
Steele started his career as a certified public accountant before moving into retail and housing development. He has served as a director of several government companies, including the Port Authority of Jamaica and the University Hospital of the West Indies and as chairman of the Economic Policy committee of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica.
Jamaica: A strike has closed down the Caribbean Cement Company’s Rockfort plant. The industrial action also prevented locals accessing a ship-based book fair via the plant’s jetty, according to the Jamaica Observer newspaper. The cement company says it is in negotiations with the National Workers' Union (NWU) to reach a new collective labour agreement. It has also informed the Ministry of Labour and Social Security about the industrial action. Work at the site was expected to resume in late May 2017. Cemex took over Trinidad Cement, the majority shareholder of the Caribbean Cement Company in early 2017.
Caribbean Cement granted permission to import cement
12 April 2017Jamaica: The government has granted Caribbean Cement permission to import cement from Trinidad & Tobago in order to resolve local supply issues. The cement producer will procure cement from its subsidiary Trinidad Cement, according to the Jamaica Observer newspaper. Caribbean Cement has reported technical issues with its packing plant which have led to it being unable to support the local retail market. It has also suspended all exports.
Cemex to take over Trinidad Cement for US$89m
06 December 2016Trinidad and Tobago: Cemex plans to takeover Trinidad Cement by increasing its share in the cement producer through its subsidiary Sierra Trading. It will present an offer and take-over bid to Trinidad Cement’s shareholders, which if successful, will increase its share of the company to 74.9% from the 39.5% that it holds at present. The value of the offer has been placed at US$89m. The offer is reliant on Sierra acquiring at least enough of Trinidad Cement’s shares to give it control. The offer period is expected to close on 10 January 2017.
If the offer is successful, Trinidad Cement will continue operating as previously. Trinidad Cement’s main operations are in Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Barbados. It is the majority shareholder of Caribbean Cement Company.
Jamaica: Peter Donkersloot Ponce has been appointed as the general manager of Caribbean Cement Company with effect from 7 November 2016. He replaces Alejandro Varés Leal who was originally appointed in May 2015 subject to an agreement between Caribbean Cement’s owner Trinidad Cement and Cemex. However, Varés Leal has taken up a promotion with Cemex. In accordance with the Agreement, Ponce was proposed by Cemex to replace Varés Leal.