Displaying items by tag: Guyana

Cuba/Guyana: Guyanese government officials attended a meeting with representatives of Cuba-based Cementos Cienfuegos on 25 November 2022. The Guyana Chronicle newspaper has reported that the Cuban government advised the Guyanese officials of the feasibility of importing Cuban building materials, including cement, into Guyana.

Panama: Cemex exported 3000t of bagged Ordinary Portland Cement to Jamaica from the Bahía Las Minas Grain Terminal in Colón. Data from the Ministry of Commerce and Industries shows that the company started exporting cement in January 2021 and recorded sales of over US$17m in 2021. In the first two months of 2022 Panama exported OPC to countries including Jamaica, the Bahamas, Guyana, Bonaire, Cuba and Curaçao.

Guyana: The Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) has confiscated a US$68,300 illegal cannabis shipment from a Panamanian cement carrier ship that was scheduled to depart Port Georgetown on 21 January 2022. CANU says that the value of the substance would have been significantly higher at its destination. It has detained the ship’s captain, engineer and senior officers.

Guyana: Vas Energy subsidiary Georgetown Cement Company has broken ground on construction of its upcoming La Resource, Essequibo Coast cement plant. The Guyana Chronicle newspaper has reported that the company plans to spend US$100m in establishing the plant.  When commissioned in mid-2022, it will supply all of Guyana with the possibility of export to neighbouring countries. This will reduce the cost of imported cement by 30%. Georgetown Cement Company plans to employ 180 – 200 people at the plant.

Guyana: Concrete manufacturer KSM is taking legal action against the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) for over valuing the cost of cement imports. It alleges that the GRA charged it US$16.6m too much for five shipments between January and March 2019, according to the Stabroek News newspaper.

It grew its imports from 2015 to 2018 and it imported 24,480t of cement from Domicem in the Dominican Republic in 2018. However, KSM says that the GRA increased the declared value of cement by over 40% in the second half of 2018 without offering any ‘reasonable or justifiable grounds’ for so doing. KSM says it imported its shipments in 2019 at the lower rate and this was approved by customs. The GRA then demanded the shortfall from KSM in May 2019.

Guyana: Caricom Cement Company has commissioned its new US$53.1m cement plant at Everton, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne). The new plant will produce 500,000t/yr of cement, double Guyana's current consumption. The plant, which is the first integrated cement plant in Guyana, employs in excess of 250 persons from Berbice, Georgetown, Essequibo and Suriname.

"Caricom Cement Company has been in operation for the past four years and during that period we were bagging cement under the brand names West Indies Cement and Titan Cement," said Caricom. "The main purpose of the cement plant is to make cement affordable to all Guyanese, taking into consideration the construction boom that our country is undergoing at this time."

The plant was built in three phases and started in August 2010 at the old bauxite plant (Bermine), which was developed in phase one. The first part of the current operations saw a bagging system installed at the Everton plant. Phase two saw a Portland cement plant being added to the system while the machinery was being built for phase three, which commenced in December 2013 with the installation of the new plant. The plant was then upgraded with a kiln and cooling system and its grinding capacity was increased by 50%.

Guyana: Chetram Ramnarine, an employee of Toolsie Persaud, was granted bail in the sum of US$250,000 when he appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates' Courts to answer to a charge of robbery on 16 May 2014.

The charge stated that on 9 April 2014 the defendant stole cement valued more than US$1m from Toolsie Persaud Ltd. Ramnarine, who told the court he is a banker for the company, pleaded not guilty to the charge and stated that he had no previous convictions. The defendant is set to reappear at the Georgetown Magistrates Court on 6 June 2014 for statements.