Displaying items by tag: Brazil
Haver & Boecker grows presence in Brazil
14 March 2013Brazil: Haver & Boecker has celebrated the expansion of its headquarters in Brazil with over 200 guests from North and South America, Europe and Asia in attendance. Haver & Boecker Latinoamericana (HBL), the Brazilian subsidiary of the German engineering specialists for the raw material processing industry, is based in Monte Mor near Sao Paulo.
The expansion of HBL's building represents part of the investments made by the company to meet the growing demand registered in the Brazilian and Latin American market. Sales in Latin America have more than doubled since 2008. The growing share of engineering services required an expansion of office space to more than 1500m2.
Haver & Boecker also announced at the event held on 1 March 2013 that they have created Haver & Boecker Holding Americas to support technical, financial and communications for all branches in Latin America and North America. Adrián Gamburgo, who was previously the director of HBL, will lead the holding company. Rodrigo Campos becomes the managing director for the branch in Brazil.
Cimpor and InterCement joined in Brazil
04 February 2013Brazil: The Portuguese cement production group Cimpor has announced the merger of two of its subsidiaries in Brazil, namely Cimpor Cimentos do Brasil and InterCement Brasil. Both companies are fully and indirectly owned by Cimpor, which itself is controlled by Brazil's Camargo Corrêa. The merger project received the green light of Cimpor's board of directors on 30 January 2013.
"The merger of these two companies in the Cimpor universe will make it possible to create joint value, promoting synergies, leading to improved operating efficiency and quality of services offered to the Brazilian market," said Cimpor said in a statement filed with the Portuguese market regulator.
The deal to merge the two subsidiaries comes after an asset swap between Cimpor, InterCement and Votorantim that took place in 2012.
CTIEC builds ties with Votorantim
23 January 2013Brazil: The chairmen of China Triumph International Engineering (CTIEC) and Votorantim Group have met to discuss working together on future projects. Peng Shou, chairman of CTIEC, visited Raul Calfat, CEO of Votorantim Group. Votorantim is the parent group of Votorantim Cimentos, Brazil's largest cement producer.
In the meeting the two companies exchanged ideas on the cement industry in China and Brazil and reached a consensus on advancing strategic cooperation, starting with cement and cogeneration projects. The companies decided to promote future communication and exchanges of technical information.
Votorantim Group is a conglomerate engaged in industries including power generation, papermaking, food, metal smelting and cement. It achieved business revenues of US$12bn in 2011. Its subsidiary Votorantim Cimento has over 50 cement production lines in countries and regions like Brazil, the US, Canada and Africa and is further expanding production capacity.
US$500m Lafarge investment in Brazil
14 January 2013Brazil: The French building materials giant Lafarge has announced a US$500m investment plan in Brazil. On 11 January 2013 Bruno Lafont, group CEO, announced the five year investment in a civil construction research centre in the country at a meeting with the Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff. The move follows a number of asset sales by the group.
The Brazilian research centre will be the group's fifth outside France. The others are in the Netherlands, China, Algeria and India. In the past five years Lafarge has invested US$1bn in Brazil.
Votorantim plans US$3bn IPO
22 December 2012Brazil: Brazil's biggest cement producer, Votorantim Cimentos, is preparing an initial public offer (IPO) to raise US$3bn.
Votorantim is looking to acquire new assets in North America, Africa and South America. The proceeds from the IPO, the biggest for Brazil since Banco Santander Brasil in 2009, would go into funding its expansion plans.
The cement unit of Brazil's Grupo Votorantim, controlled by the Ermirio de Moraes family, completed a swap of its 21.2% stake in Cimpor Cimentos de Portugal in June 2012. Votorantim Cimentos has hired Banco Itau BBAand JPMorgan Chase & Co to manage the deal and will include other banks.
Brazilian cement demand rises 8.5% in first eight months of 2012
05 December 2012Brazil: Demand for cement rose by 8.5% year-on-year to 45.2Mt in the January to August 2012. The demand has been attributed to brickwork made from cement blocks and cement walls in booming social housing projects.
Cement demand in Brazil rose by 8% year-on-year in 2011 to 65Mt. Industry experts estimate that the use of cement systems may grow from its current level of 22% to 50%. Subsequently, cement producers are increasing their capacity. Brazil's cement capacity was estimated at 78Mt/yr at the end of 2011 and is forecast to rise by 40% to 111Mt/yr in 2016.
Meanwhile, Holcim is spending US$710m to increase its capacity from 1.2Mt/yr to 3.6Mt/yr. Queiroz Galvao is currently building a cement plant in São Luis in collaboration with the Cornelio Brennand group and is said to be planning five more plants.
CSN plans 3Mt/yr expansion in Minas Gerais
07 November 2012Brazil: Steel manufacturer CSN has announced plans to set up four cement assets in Minas Gerais state. The company wants to grow its current cement production capacity of 2.4Mt/yr to 5.4Mt/yr with an investment of US$491m.
CSN has proposed setting up three cement plants and a second clinker unit, adding to one at Arcos that began operations on May 2011. Currently the clinker unit at Arcos supplies 2500t/day the company's plant at Volta Redonda in Rio de Janeiro. The second clinker unit would expand this to 6500t/day, making it the largest clinker production site in Latin America.
Other cement companies investing in Minas Gerais state include Cimentos Liz's US$147m expansion to its capacity at plants in Vespasiano and Lagoa Santa. Holcim is growing the capacity of its plant in Barroso from 1.3Mt/yr to 3.5Mt.yr. Both Holcim and Cimentos Liz are receiving funding from the state development bank BDMG.
Uruguay: Three cement companies are planning to invest up to US$262m in the Treinta y Tres region of Uruguay to meet demand for building materials driven by the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.
The Uruguan state oil and cement company Ancap, alongside Spanish firm Cementos Molins and Brazil's Votorantim, have filed an environmental impact study for a new cement plant with a capacity of 750,000t/yr. Total costs are estimated at US$160m, with Cementos Molins contributing 60% of the investment and Ancap and Votarantim contributing 20% each.
Ancap is also preparing environmental studies for two new lime production plants. A first unit will have a capacity of 150t/day with an investment of US$7m. Ancap has already secured a contract with Brazilian federal power holding group Eletrobras to place this production. A second unit will have a capacity of 500t/day with an investment of US$95m, including infrastructure costs related to the project.
In order to provide the region with better export options towards Brazil, Uruguayan port authority ANP is trying to develop a commercial route connecting the Merín and the Los Patos lakes. Merín lake is on the border between Uruguay and Brazil's southernmost state Rio Grande do Sul, and it is connected by the San Gonzalo canal to the Los Patos lake, which in turn empties into the Atlantic ocean.
Martin Engineering supplies air cannons to Votorantim
09 August 2012Brazil: Votorantim Cimentos has ordered 110 air cannons from Martin Engineering to aid material flow in two new plants currently nearing completion in Brazil. The two new plants are part of a massive US$988m investment by Votorantim. They are expected to produce approximately 8500t/day of clinker when they come online later in 2012.
110 Martin Hurricane Supreme Air Cannons are to be installed in the plants in Cuiabá and Rio Branco, covering preheater towers, additive silos and cyclones. Benefits of specifying the new technology for air cannon networks include reduced energy costs, improved system performance and increased uptime, with greater availability of compressed air for other processes within the plant.
Camargo wins battle for Cimpor
11 July 2012The news that Brazil's competition regulator, Cade, has approved Camargo Corrêa's attempt to control Portugal's Cimpor after over two years of poker-faced mergers, acquisitions and deals, has significantly changed the cement landscape of the country. Camargo will now be allowed a controlling stake in the Portuguese producer assuming that Votorantim, Cimpor's other major shareholder, sells its Brazilian Cimpor assets to a third player.
The deal looks likely to happen fairly quickly, with Votorantim stating that it never intended to remain as Camargo's partner in Cimpor. Lafarge appears to have first refusal as the original seller of the stake to Votorantim, but Cade may want to avoid this due to Lafarge's strong Brazilian position.
With its Cimpor interests now set to go to another producer, the regulator is clearly looking to spread the cement wealth in the country. Cade also said that Camargo must sell some assets in Brazil's heavily developed São Paulo state - presumably not to Votorantim! An asset swap will see Cimpor assets abroad transferred to Votorantim.
The Brazilian cement market has become increasingly concentrated since 1990. At that time there were 19 different producers; by 2000 there were 12. That number has since increased slightly, but Votorantim, Cimpor, Camargo Corrêa, Holcim and Lafarge still have 85% of the integrated capacity between them. Cade's attempts to moderate their influence is understandable, given that some regions are currently now supplied by Votorantim-owned production to the tune of 70%. Accusations of cartels have been rife in Brazil for many years.
Consumers, both large and small, will be hopeful that the deal will go through smoothly and that a drop in market concentration will reduce prices in the country. Even the Brazilian government is affected. It is seeking to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on road, port and home construction and for expansion of its mines, farms and factories. If prices of building materials can be reduced, it will be able to accelerate its general development and ramp up extraction and production of its valuable natural resources.