Displaying items by tag: El Salvador
Holcim El Salvador to launch first electric cement truck at El Ronco cement plant in 2023
11 October 2023El Salvador: Holcim El Salvador says that its first electric cement truck will enter operation at its El Ronco cement plant later in 2023. Local press has reported that this will reduce the plant’s carbon footprint by 560t/yr. The El Ronco plant is the subject of an investment in renewable energy infrastructure to cover 21% of its electricity consumption. The company is also investing in circular economic practices with a view to achieving net zero CO2 emissions.
Holcim El Salvador chief executive officer Rodrigo Gallardo said "We are building more with less, incorporating recycled materials into our production processes, giving them a second life in order to use only what is necessary and thus contribute to preserving our planet." He added “We are building progress for people and the planet, with the vision of making sustainable construction affordable for everyone. The future of construction in El Salvador is being transformed, and we are proud to be leading the way, as we have done for the past 74 years."
El Salvador: Holcim El Salvador says that the upcoming solar power plant at its El Ronco cement plant will have a capacity of 21.4MW, across three separate installations. Energy provider AES El Salvador holds a 20-year power supply agreement for construction and operation of the plant. The La Prensa Grafica newspaper has reported that Banco Cuscatlán supplied a loan for the project. When operational, the new solar power plant will lower Holcim El Salvador's oil consumption by 43,000 barrels/yr.
Holcim El Salvador CEO Rodrigo Gallardo said "We are not only making solutions and products with a lower CO2 content, but also cutting CO2 in our production processes."
El Salvador: Holcim El Salvador plans to invest up to US$50m over the next three years to help it generate 70% of the energy it uses. It plans to build a 17MW solar plant and a wind farm to enable this, according to La Prensa Gráfica newspaper. The investment will also help the subsidiary of Switzerland-based Holcim to progress towards its net-zero sustainability goals. The solar project has a budget of US$19m and will be built in agreement with AES Corporation. It will be located at Holcim’s integrated El Ronco cement plant. It will supply 21% of the energy used at both the El Ronco and Maya cement plants.
The investment has also included the installation of a solid waste shredder earlier in 2022. Its official inauguration is planned for mid-November 2022. Holcim El Salvador reached a 30% alternative fuels substitution rate in October 2022.
Mexico: Cemex has successfully closed its sale of its Costa Rica and El Salvador subsidiaries to Cementos Progreso for US$329m. Cemex plans to use the proceeds from the divestments to fund its bolt-on investment growth strategy, reduce its debt and for other general corporate purposes.
El Salvador: Holcim El Salvador has officially inaugurated an upgrade to its Maya cement plant. The company has invested US$11.6m towards increasing clinker production capacity by 0.45Mt/yr at the unit. Total cement production capacity of the plant has increased to 1.9Mt/yr from 1.2Mt/yr previously. The Maya cement plant previously reduced production levels significantly in 2008 in response to the global financial crisis at the same time. Oliver Osswald, Region Head of Holcim LATAM, attended the inauguration. The event was also used to launch Holcim’s new corporate branding in the region.
El Salvador: Cementos Fortaleza is establishing a new 0.3Mt/yr cement plant at Acajutla in Sonsonate Department. The Diario El Mundo newspaper has reported that the subsidiary of Grupo Regalado and Mexico-based Elementia plans to commission the plant in eatly 2023. The company will invest US$40m in its construction. The plant will produce its cement from 20% El Salvadorean-produced raw materials and will primarily serve local consumption, with the possibility of also exporting some cement.
Grupo Regalado representative Marcos Regalado Nottebohm said “It is challenging to invest in a project of such magnitude. This has been a natural step between two large business groups of great renown.”
Cementos Progreso grows in Central America
05 January 2022We start 2022 with the news that Cemex is selling up to Cementos Progreso in Costa Rica and El Salvador. On 20 December 2021 Cemex announced that it was selling one integrated cement plant, one grinding plant, seven ready-mix concrete plants, one aggregate quarry and one terminal in Costa Rica and one terminal in El Salvador. The sale is valued at around US$335m with an expected completion date in the first half of 2022 subject to regulatory approval.
This sale is noteworthy because it concerns Mexico-based Cemex selling off assets in its ‘back yard’ of Central America. Once the sale completes it will retain operations in Panama, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Colombia under its Cemex LatAm subsidiary. It will also continue to operate in the Caribbean in the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Puerto Rico. Previous divestments by Cemex over the last five years or so have tended to focus on piecemeal (or bolt-off) divestments in the US and Europe. This latest sale could be viewed in a similar way if Central America and the Caribbean are seen as a region rather than individual countries. For its part Cemex describes the divestment as part of its ‘Operation Resilience’ plan to optimise its global portfolio.
Why it chose to sell up in Costa Rica is curious given that Cemex LatAm’s cement sales volumes for the region were reported as ‘flat’ in 2019 with the exception of Colombia and El Salvador. 2020 was then a shock, like almost everywhere else, as coronavirus caused disruption reducing sales volumes. 2021 saw recovery in all of Cemex LatAm’s national markets over the first nine months. Notably, both Cemex’s revenue and operational earnings in Costa Rica grew when comparing the first nine months of 2019, before the pandemic, to the same period in 2021, unlike Colombia and Panama. For the third quarter of 2021 Cemex said that growing cement sales volumes in Costa Rica had been driven by infrastructure and housing sectors. It also added that “Our cement footprint in the country is also a very relevant component of our regional trading network. We continued exporting during the quarter, mainly to our operations in Nicaragua.” In may be coincidence but it was interesting timing to add a comment like that.
From Cementos Progreso’s perspective the new assets in Costa Rica and El Salvador are part of an ongoing expansion phase outside of its home base. At home in Guatemala the company operates three integrated plants. The third, the San Gabriel plant, started up in 2019. In the same year the company purchased Cemento Interoceanico and its grinding plant in Panama. Then in July 2021 the group commissioned its new Belmopan grinding plant in Belize as part of its Cementos Rocafuerte subsidiary. The new proposed acquisitions in Costa Rica and El Salvador start to fill in the gaps in Cementos Progreso’s network between Guatemala and Panama. The price seems on the high side for a 0.9Mt/yr integrated plant and a 0.9Mt/yr grinding unit. Yet the associated quarry, concrete plants, terminals and, crucially, the location may have made it one well worth paying. For comparison Peru-based Unacem agreed to purchase a grinding plant from CBB in Chile this week for around US$30m. Back in 2013 Lafarge sold assets in Honduras, including an integrated plant and a grinding unit, to Cementos Argos for Euro232m.
Both parties may do well out of this transaction. Cemex continues to show that it is fully prepared to sell assets anywhere as it sharpens up its operations. Cementos Progreso meanwhile is turning itself into a regional player to watch.
Costa Rica/El Salvador: Cementos Progreso has agreed to acquire Cemex’s Costa Rican and El Salvadorian assets for US$335m. The divested assets consist of an integrated cement plant, a cement grinding plant, seven ready-mix concrete plants, an aggregate quarry and one terminal in Costa Rica. An additional terminal is also being sold in El Salvador. The transaction is expected to be completed in the first half of 2022 subject to approval by the relevant competition authorities.
Cemex’s chief executive officer (CEO) Fernando Gonzalez said “This transaction allows us to progress in our portfolio rebalancing objectives, while redeploying resources to fund our growth investments and further deleveraging.”
Holcim El Salvador opens three concrete plants and an aggregates plant in first four months of 2021
26 April 2021El Salvador: Holcim el Salvador, part of Switzerland-based LafargeHolcim, has invested US$4.0m in the first four months of 2021 in establishing three new 70m3/hr-capacity ready-mix concrete plants and one aggregates plant. The La Prensa Grafica newspaper has reported that the plants have increased the company’s concrete production capacity by 60%. The concrete plants are situated at Apopa, La Paz and Sonsonate, enabling the producer to serve a wide area. The new plants have generated 100 direct and indirect jobs. As part of the investment, the company acquired 22 new concrete trucks. It plans to establish two further concrete plants at Santa Ana and in eastern El Salvador in 2021.
Concrete and aggregates manager Guillermo Torres said “We intend to have national coverage for all builders of all types and sizes.” He added “We have seen a rebound in the construction sector. The main bet is always high-rise, medium and high-end housing, small-scale shopping centres with open concepts, textile industrial buildings plus government investment in roads and maintenance and extension.”
Cemex Latam Holdings reports nine-month results
29 October 2020Colombia: 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.