Displaying items by tag: Cementos Argos
Cementos Argos makes inroads in Honduras
07 February 2018Honduras: Colombian cement manufacturer Cementos Argos has reported a positive performance in Honduras. The company, which entered the domestic market in 2013, sold over 1.1Mt of cement in the local market in 2017, a record figure that was 15% more than the 0.95Mt that it sold in 2016.
Cementos Argos to build grinding plant in Honduras
02 February 2018Honduras: Cementos Argos plans to spend US$20m on building a new cement grinding plant at Choloma. The unit will have a production capacity of 0.44Mt/yr. It will join the cement producer’s integrated plant in Comayagua and another grinding plant in San Lorenzo. The new grinding plant, loacted in the north of the country, is intended to integrate into Cementos Argos’ logistics network in the wider region. It will create 200 jobs.
Cemex pays fine to Colombian competition body
08 January 2018Colombia: Cemex Colombia has paid a US$25.3m fine to the Superintendent of Industry and Commerce (SIC). The penalty follows an investigation into price fixing by Cemex, Cementos Argos, and Holcim and six senior managers, according to the El Economista newspaper. However Cemex plans to lodge an appeal with the Contentious Administrative Court to reverse the fine.
The fine covers behaviour by the companies between January 2010 and December 2012. SIC’s investigation discovered that collusion between the cement producers artificially increased the price of cement by 30% despite inflation being 9% during the period.
Colombia: The Superintendent of Industry and Commerce (SIC) has fined Cementos Argos, Cemex and Holcim and six senior managers US$68m for fixing the price of Ordinary Portland Cement. The fine covers behaviour by the companies between January 2010 and December 2012. SIC’s investigation discovered that collusion between the cement producers artificially increased the price of cement by 30% despite inflation being 9% during the period.
Cementos Argos responded to the sanction by saying that it rejected the fine and decision by SIC. Following an earlier statement in October 2017 it once again criticised SIC’s methods. According to Reuters, both Holcim and Cemex disagreed with the finding and they said they would take legal action against it.
Colombia: Cementos Argos has set up a subsidiary, Granulados Reciclados de Colombia (Greco), to recycle construction material waste. The new company’s operations will be based at its Cota plant in Cundinamarca, according to La Republica newspaper. The operation is expected to process over 1Mt/yr of construction waste material. The company is a joint operation with local industrial conglomerate Fanalca and South Korean lighting equipment manufacturer Daeyang.
Cementos Argos sales revenue and earnings down so far in 2017
14 November 2017Colombia: Cementos Argos’s sales revenue and earnings have fallen in the first nine months of 2017 due to poor performance in Colombia. Its sales revenue fell by 1.3% year-on-year to US$2.14bn from US$2.17bn in the same period in 2016. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 16.8% to US$352m from US$424m. However, its cement sales volumes rose by 15.4% to 12.2Mt from 10.5Mt.
“Thanks to the sound implementation of the BEST Program, we have made significant improvements in a particularly challenging year for our industry. By the end of this year, we are optimistic about the performance of all the markets in which we operate,” said Juan Esteban Calle, chief executive officer (CEO) of Cementos Argos.
By region, the cement producer reported growth in the US but problems in Colombia. It highlighted that cement and clinker imports to Colombia have fallen in 2017 due to rising tariffs. It also expects the local market to recover in 2018. In the Caribbean and Central America the group’s performance suffered from extreme weather events, although it managed to grow its revenue. It also reported that its cement plant in Puerto Rico is still not operational.
Colombian Superintendent of Industry and Commerce reports evidence of price collusion
17 October 2017Colombia: The Superintendent of Industry and Commerce (SIC) says that it has found evidence of price collusion from 2010 to 2012 between Cementos Argos, Holcim and Cemex. A report by SIC alleges that the three companies raised the price of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) in a coordinated manner, according to the El Espectador newspaper. The producers have been given a time to respond to the allegations and they could face fines of up to US$8m each by the end of 2017.
However, the cement producers have denied the allegations and criticised SIC’s methods. In a response, Cementos Argos described SIC’s analysis of cement prices over a 36-month period as ‘ not appropriate.’ It also pointed out that the regulator had assumed a stable market share between competitors and that its own share had changed between 2007 and 2017.
Rafael Olivella appointed as Vice President of Legal and Institutional Affairs at Cementos Argos
23 August 2017Colombia: Rafael Olivella Vives has been appointed as the Vice President of Legal and Institutional Affairs at Cementos Argos. He succeeds Juan Luis Múnera who has secured the role as vice president of Corporate Legal Affairs at Grupo Sura. Olivella trained as the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana and the Universidad de los Andes before working for Ignacio Sanín Bernal & Cía. He joined Cementos Argos in 2008 and subsequently became the vice president of Corporate Affairs at Celsia, the energy business of the Argos Group.
Dominican Republic: Colombian cement producer Cementos Argos has announced the appointment of Gary Manuel de la Rosa as its new Director General in the Dominican Republic. Previously, de la Rosa acted as a director of the industrial business unit at Cementos Argos in the Caribbean and Central American region.
Cementos Argos takes a knock in the first half of 2017
15 August 2017Colombia: Cementos Argos has posted an 84.5% fall in its first half net profit in 2017 to US$19.3m. It made US$124.4m in the first half of 2016. It said that its operating revenues dropped by 3.9% year-on-year to US$1.42bn the first half of 2017, from US$1.48bn a year earlier.