Displaying items by tag: Colombia

Colombia: Mexico-based Cemex has increased its stake in subsidiary Cemex Latam Holdings to 93% from 73%. Citigroup Global Markets acted as advisor and Corredores Davivienda acted as intermediary broker for the offer.

The group said, “Through the offer, Cemex is simplifying and strengthening its overall capital structure by further consolidating its indirect interest in CLH.

Colombia: Austria-based Mondi Group plans to open its first South American paper bags plant in Cartagena in January 2021. The unit will start with one production line with a capacity of approximately 50m bags/yr. The bags will be targeted at the cement, chemical and food industries. The group said that the plant is located in a free-trade zone with good access to ports in Panama, the east coast of the US, the Gulf of Mexico and other Caribbean ports.

"Our global network already includes 39 plants across 22 countries. We are excited to be expanding our footprint to Colombia, helping us to provide innovative, sustainable and customer-focused paper packaging solutions to customers in South America who share our commitment to quality," said Claudio Fedalto, Chief Operating Officer Paper Bags, Mondi.

Americas: Switzerland-based LafargeHolcim has begun its roll-out of ECOPact low-carbon concretes in its Latin America region, launching the product range in Ecuador, Colombia and Mexico to “meet growing demand for green products.” The company says that the launch in other markets will follow in early 2021. It said “this roll-out of ECOPact builds on its successful market adoption across Europe, the UK, the US and Canada.” The producer additionally plans to introduce its ECOLabel “to transparently communicate the environmental benefits of its green cement range” across the Disensa retail network from December 2020, enabling customers to “easily identify products that comply with the company’s green criteria, including lower carbon dioxide (CO₂) footprint and recycled content.” Every country in the region will have at least one ECOlabel product, according to the company.

Latin America regional head Oliver Osswald said, “With the roll-out of the widest range of green building materials in Latin America, we are committed to leading the way in sustainable construction. Building on our region’s excellent third quarter 2020 results, demonstrating strong resilience despite an unparalleled health crisis, Latin America is well positioned to tackle the challenges ahead. We have a clear and unified strategy supported by two strong pillars: a rapidly expanding Disensa retail franchise network, and a fully orchestrated regional push toward green building solutions.”

LafargeHolcim’s Latin America retail network Disensa will reach 2500 stores in 2020, almost double the number in 2018. The company said, “Disensa will become the central network to reach millions of consumers with a diverse product portfolio, based on quality and environmental benefits by offering ECOLabel products on a wide scale. Disensa will also introduce new digital experiences to the buying process and eventually become a full line of stores from Disensa Express to Disensa MAX!”

LafargeHolcim will host the First Latam Virtual Convention for current and potential Disensa franchisees from 25 – 27 November 2020, with participants from eight Latin American countries.

Colombia: Cementos Argos is celebrating its inclusion in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for the eighth consecutive year. The company said that the listing acknowledges its “good practices in economic, environmental and social matters.” Its owner Grupo Argos came second in the materials sector, which accounted for 4.3% of the total index weight, while the company itself came third. The index also highlighted it within the Latin American Integrated Market (MILA)-Pacific Alliance.

The company said, “One of the main advantages of this index is that it is a lever to promote cutting-edge business practices that seek to improve the impact of companies on society and the environment and, increasingly, to strengthen their relationship with different interest groups, whether they are communities, investors, suppliers, employees or authorities, among others.”

Colombia: Grupo Argos subsidiary Cementos Argos has reported a 13% year-on-year fall in cement sales volumes to 10.7Mt in the first nine months of 2020 from 12.3Mt in the first nine months of 2019. As a result, revenues fell by 5% to US$1.85bn from US$1.94bn, “partially netted by the price improvements in Colombia and in the US, together with the Colombian peso devaluation.” Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 3% to US$342m from US$353m. The company said that, “Volumes were affected by the hurricanes and intense rains in the US, together with the gradual recovery of the Colombian operations that still remain affected by the lockdowns.”

Chief executive officer (CEO) Juan Esteban Calle said, “We are proud of our company and our more than 7500 employees for their commitment and resilience navigating all the challenges generated by the Covid-19 crisis. We have been able to continue operating in a bio-safe way while significantly mitigating the impact of extended shutdowns in most of our operations and at the same time we have been taking advantage of all the opportunities that are arising from the improving market dynamics, contributing to the recovery of the economies and employment in most of our markets.”

Colombia: Cemex subsidiary Cemex Latam Holdings (CLH) recorded net sales of US$571m in the first nine months of 2020 were down by 24% year-on-year from US$752m in the corresponding period of 2019. Operating earnings fell by 14% to US$69.0m from US$87.0m, while consolidated cement volumes fell by 20% to 3.92Mt from 4.89Mt.

Jesus Gonzalez, chief executive officer (CEO) of CLH said, “Our operations could run relatively normally during the third quarter in Colombia, Guatemala, Nicaragua and El Salvador, while restrictions impacted in Panama and to a lesser degree in Costa Rica.” He added that the company improved its operating earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) by 19% on a like-for-like basis to US$51m in the third quarter of 2020.

Colombia: Cemex España has requested authorisation by the Colombian Financial Superintendency (SFC) to make offers to buy the shares of all Cemex Latam Holdings shareholders with a view to taking over a 100% stake in the company. El Ceo News has reported that after receiving authorisation Cemex España must place a bid within five working days.

Colombia: Argos has supplied 220,000t of cement and 765,000m³ of ready-mixed concrete to the site of the 8500m-long Túnel de La Línea road tunnel in Quindío and Tolima Departments.

Colombia regional vice president Tomás Restrepo said, “We are proud to have participated as allies in the construction of this mega-work that represents a great milestone for the infrastructure of our country and Latin America. This was a project that represented great logistical and technical challenges that Argos has faced with commitment. We are sure that this strategic work of interconnection will contribute enormously to the progress of Colombia and its people. This reflects our high purpose to continue contributing to the construction of dreams that drive development and transform lives"

Colombia: The National Association of Entrepreneurs and Dinero Magazine have named Cementos Argos fourth among 242 of Colombia’s most innovative companies. Chief executive officer (CEO) Juan Esteban Calle said, “This recognition fills us with pride and motivates us to continue to advance. We are convinced that it is possible to help materialise more dreams of housing and a better infrastructure for millions of people.”

Colombia: Cementos Argos’ says its sales volumes in the first half of 2020 were affected by coronavirus-related lockdown measures in Colombia and some countries of Central America and the Caribbean. These markets have since recovered gradually as quarantine measures were eased. Its revenue fell by 4.6% year-on-year to US$1.14bn in the first half of 2020 from 1.20bn in the same period in 2019. Cement and ready-mixed concrete (RMC) sales volumes declined by 15% to 6.79Mt and 19.9% to 4.05Mm³ respectively. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) dropped by 9.5% to US$200m.

“These results were driven mainly by the firm commitment of our employees in implementing the health and safety protocols and the saving initiatives contained within RESET (restart safe and healthy), together with the better-than-expected market dynamics particularly in the US and some of our markets in the Caribbean,” said Juan Esteban Calle, the group’s chief executive officer (CEO).

By region the group reported growing RMC sales and earnings, both on an adjusted basis, in the US in the second quarter of 2020. Cement volumes fell in the country, mainly due to lower cement sales volumes in the Northeast region, due to lockdown measures and reduced demand from the wholesale segment. In Colombia a complete national lockdown from the start of the second quarter reduced sales significantly. A mixed picture was presented in the Caribbean and Central America due to differences in government lockdown policy although overall sales and earnings were down.