Displaying items by tag: Guatemala

Guatemala: The Inter-American Cement Federation (FICEM) has appointed Alejandro Ramírez Cantú, the chief executive of Cemex in the Dominican Republic, as its new president for the period 2017 – 2020 at its technical congress. He succeeds Gabriel Restrepo, manager of Institutional Affairs at Cementos Argos, in the role, according to the 7 Dias newspaper.

Ramírez Cantú is an industrial and systems engineer trained at the Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico and he holds a Master's Degree in business administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He joined Cemex in 2000 and he has directed operations in Thailand, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic.

Switzerland: Guatemala‘s Cementos Progreso has joined the Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI) as its first affiliate member. The new membership level was created by the CSI to expand its membership and provide an interim approach to joining the scheme. Affiliate members will be expected to achieve full membership within a three-year timescale.

Guatemala: Austria’s Doppelmayr has started up a RopeCon conveyor system for Cementos Progreso’s San Gabriel plant near Guatemala City. The 1.6km conveyor will transport 2100t/hr of limestone from a quarry to the plant across wooded terrain and it rises up to a height of 200m off the ground using four tower structures. The long rope structure of the system has enabled it to use a minimum amount of space on the ground. The new cement pant is expected to start operation in the first half of 2017.

Guatemala: Cemex has completed production and bagging line upgrades its Arizona cement grinding plant in the Port of San José. The project cost US$3.7m and it included the completion of a second bagging line, changes in lift capacity and the installation of new mill controls, according to the Prensa Libre newspaper. The upgrades are expected to increase the plant’s production capacity by about 10% to 545,000t/yr and to speed up bagging by 46% to 96t/hr.

Guatemala: Cemengal has commissioned a new 12t/hr Plug&Grind portable grinding unit for Cemento Regional. The station will supply cement to south and central Guatemala including the capital, Guatemala City. First cement production at the site was marked by the attendance of Roberto Díaz Durán, president and CEO of Cemento Regional, Antonio González Gallego, president and CEO of Cemengal and Moisés Rodríguez Núñez, sales and marketing manager of Cemengal.

Guatemala: Cementos Progreso will donate US$0.26 for every bag of cement sold in ConstruRed stores in Guatemala towards a fund that will be used to build 100 homes in the country. Consumers will be asked to put forward the name of someone they know who needs a home as part of this action. They have to be over 18 and have a plot of land ready for their home. The recipient will also have to give proof of a monthly incomes of less than US$650 in order to qualify.

South America/Asia: Mexican cement company Cemex has confirmed plans to expand its social responsibility programme to Guatemala, Bangladesh and the Philippines by 2016. The firm intends to installed self-employment production centres (CPA) in these countries to help low-income families renovate their houses.

The initiative, developed in collaboration with authorities and non-governmental organisations, provides construction training and teaches how to manufacture concrete blocks. Half of the production obtained at these centres is used in the construction or renovation of the participants' houses and the other half is bought by local governments to develop infrastructure projects. The income achieved by the initiative is then reinvested by Cemex in the centres.

Cemex already operates 80 CPAs in Mexico and expects to open 20 additional centres in 2015. It has also developed the initiative in Colombia since 2010.

Guatemala: Eight local inhabitants have died after a clash that saw residents turn guns on their neighbours over plans to build a road and a cement plant. Interior minister Mauricio Lopez said that the authorities were working to determine what actions would be taken after the clashes that began on 20 September 2014 and continued into 21 September 2014 in San Juan, Suchitepéquez Department. Several homes and five vehicles were burned.

"We need a greater security presence in the area to regain control," said Lopez, noting that about 600 policemen were deployed in the area where the incident took place. The conflict escalated because some of the local community are being forced to leave their homes due to the construction, while others have been in favour of the cement plant and sold land for the road. According to farming community leader Daniel Pascual, gunmen had fired on villagers opposed to the project. He stated that some of the attackers were employees of the cement company.

In July 2013 Cementos Progreso began to construct a cement plant in San Gabriel, Suchitepéquez for US$720m. It is expected to begin operations in 2017. However, the project has divided the local population between those who support the company and those who oppose the construction due to fears it will damage groundwater sources and cause other environmental damage.

Guatemala: Cementos Progreso will open a new cement plant, called San Gabriel, in San Juan Sacatepequez in the first quarter of 2017. The firm is investing US$700m on the 2.2Mt/yr capacity cement plant.

Guatemala: Local press has indicated that Guatemalan residents are protesting against local cement manufacturer Cementos Progreso's plans to build a cement factory in San Juan Sacatepéquez, 30km north west of Guatemala City. Members of 12 local communities claim that they were not consulted prior to works commencing and they say that the cement plant will contaminate the local environment.

The cement factory will be built in the area to serve construction of a 24km highway known as the 'Anillo Regional' that will connect the departments of Guatemala, Quiché, Baja Verapaz and Chimaltenango. The highway is expected to cost US$19.2m and works are being carried out under a public-private partnership, in which Cementos Progreso is participating.

The Guatemalan president Otto Pérez inaugurated the start of construction works in May 2013 and defended the project, saying that it would bring development to the area, according to a presidential statement. "I want to ask the local population, which will benefit from the project, to help us and collaborate," said Pérez. The president also characterised claims that the highway will damage the environment, affect local farming and reduce water resources in the area as 'lies.'