Displaying items by tag: Guatemala

Guatemala: Local cement producers have expressed concern over the quality of rising imports from Asia. Issues over quality standards and packaging have been raised, according to the El Periódico newspaper. According to data from the Bank of Guatamala, cement imports worth around US$57m were reported in the first 11 months of 2020. Imports from Turkey and Vietnam represented 85% of this. The country has a cement production capacity of 5.5Mt/yr and domestic consumption is around 3Mt/yr.

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.

Guatemala: Colombia-based Cementos Argos has announced that it is “exploring opportunities for importing cement into Guatemala.” Subsidiary Argos Guatemala will be responsible for the import and commercialisation of the cement, which will be produced by Cementos Argos in Panama.

Colombia: Cemex Latam Holdings (CLH)’s net sales in the first quarter of 2020 were US$214m, down by 11% year-on-year compared to sales of US$240m in the same period of 2019. Operating earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) throughout the quarter declined by 12% year-on-year to US$46.0m from US$52.3m. Cement volumes over the period were 11% below their first-quarter 2019 level, however prices were 3% higher. Total debt decreased by 8% year-over-year, reaching US$766m as of March 2020.

Cemex Latam Holdings CEO Jesus Gonzalez 
said, “We came into 2020 with favourable demand momentum in Colombia, Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador, and a stabilising trend in Costa Rica. The coronavirus outbreak began to impact on this in March 2020. With respect to capex, US$20.0m has been postponed until 2021. Also, members of CLH’s Board and senior leadership have agreed to voluntarily waive a percentage of their second quarter salaries. Other employees voluntarily deferred a percentage of their salaries for the period. I would like to thank my colleagues for their support in these challenging times.”

Panama: Guatemala-based Cemento Progreso, which acquired Cemento Interoceanico on 21 November 2019, has shared plans to expand its 0.25Mt/yr La Chorrera plant to 0.3Mt/yr production capacity. Noticias Financieras News has reported that the company will also establish three new concrete plants, in David, Chiriquí province, Columbus, Columbus province, and Tocumen, Panama province. Through these it hopes to serve major infrastructure projects such as the construction of a fourth Panama canal bridge and to increase its cement market share from 10%.

El Salvador: Guatemala-based Cemento Regional has announced the completion of its first production plant in El Salvador. The works, which began in September 2019, involved an investment of US$16m. The new plant has a capacity of 0.12Mt/yr, which Cemento Regional anticipates will secure it around 10% of the local market. It expects to begin dispatches in the second half of February 2020.

Panama: Guatemala’s Cementos Progreso has acquired a full stake in Cemento Interoceanico. The latter company informed its staff that working conditions would remain unchanged, according to the Panamá América newspaper. Panama consumed 1.67Mt of cement in 2018. Imports increased by 2% year-on-year to 32,900t.

Guatemala: Colombia’s Ultracem has invested US$1.2m in a facility for packing cement in Puerto Barrios, Guatemala, generating 16 jobs. The company has revealed that its next project in the country, where it currently sells 0.12Mt/yr of cement, will be production facilities. Prensa Libre has reported that Ultracem’s three-step entry into Guatemala, beginning in April 2019 with the import and distribution of packed cement, has entered its second stage. This consists of packing its Colombian cement, imported via Honduras, in Guatemala.

Ultracem hopes to have entered production in the country to compete with Cementos Progreso, whose three plants’ 5.3Mt/yr total output constitutes the entirety of domestic production, by September 2020. Ultracem’s administrative director Estuardo Solís has stated that ‘an aggressive marketing plan for expansion into Guatemala, Central America’s largest market’ is in place. Over four months the company has sold 40,000t of cement in the country, all of it in the east, centre and north-east.

Ultracem began its Central American expansion in 2018 with cement distribution to Panama, followed closely by Honduras, where it established a US$2m grinding plant in May 2019.

Guatemala: Cementos Progreso has received the National Award for Cleaner Production and the Sello Ambiental award in recognition of meeting environmental guidelines and having effective environmental management systems. The company has implemented preventative, proactive and inclusive systems across all of its operations and business units. This includes limestone and aggregate quarries, aggregate crushing, premixed concrete production, bag factories and the Estadio Cementos Progreso multi-sports stadium.

Guatemala: The government has introduced a new distribution tax of US$0.2 per 42.5kg bag of cement. The new legislation also intends to regulate cement and clinker imports and appoint personnel to supervise storage sites, according to the El Periódico newspaper.