Displaying items by tag: Industria Nacional del Cemento

Paraguay: Industria Nacional del Cemento (INC) has shut down its clinker kiln for 30 days to start work on a fuel upgrade project. The US$45m project is intended to allow the kiln to use other fuels as well as the fuel oil it currently uses. A further 90-day stoppage period has been scheduled for mid-2016. The project is expected to be complete by the end of the year.

INC’s president Jorge Mendez has reassured the public that the cement supply from his plant will not drop during the maintenance period. INC will continue delivering between 50,000 - 55,000 bags/day. The firm has 86,500t of clinker in stock. In addition the government will also import 200,000t of cement to maintain levels. INC is the country’s sole integrated cement plant.

Paraguay: Although the Paraguayan state-run cement company Industria Nacional del Cemento (INC) has announced that it has secured the supplyof 50,000bags/day and is importing cement from Brazil, local distributors are still voicing their discontent with the firm. They they claim that INC is lying about the volumes that it provides. They are also complaining that the cement it imports is of poor quality and that the cement coming into the country from Brazilian producer Votorantim is too expensive.

Additionally, they argue that the imported cement is just to compensate the lack of supply from INC. They specifically complained that there were practically no regular disbursements of cement over the week beginning 26 October 2015. They believe that there is a lack of clinker for cement production and that demand from the local market is not being covered.

The head of INC, Jorge Mendez, has categorically denied the claims, stating that the distributors are making objections due to the fact that a recent negotiation process between INC and them has come to an end. He stated that 270,000 bags were handed over to distributors during the aforementioned week, including around 45,000 bags of cement produced by INC, and over 20,000 bags from imports. He feels that the issue has arisen because a certain number of distributors do not like the fact that construction firms buy imported cement and that INC regulates cement prices. Mendez has also challenged claims that Paraguay's distributors are requesting more cement.

Paraguay: Paraguay's Industry and Trade Minister Gustavo Leite has revealed that the possibility of turning Industria Nacional del Cemento (INC) into a cement importer with immediate effect is being considered by the authorities, which are concerned about on-going cement supply issues and cement prices.

A public-private partnership to increase capacity to 1Mt/yr is being sought, but this will require a new cement plant, which takes between three and four years, so it will not solve the existing problems. A tender process to import cement could be organised before the end of October 2015 and the product could arrive in November 2015.

Paraguay: Industria Nacional del Cemento (INC) is looking to diversify its fuels mixture to include other types of oils and possibly biofuels. The company has signed an agreement with the engineering faculty at Asuncion National University (FIUNA) to certify the use of biofuels. INC's president Jorge Mendez believes that, from 2016, INC may start using a variety of fuels, following a US$50m investment in its furnace. This could save US$22m/yr, but it will not necessarily mean that biofuel will be used.

Paraguay: President Horacio Cartes met with the head of the country's cement company Industria Nacional del Cemento (INC) and executives from Holcim and KBR Group on 23 October 2014. The meeting was arranged to discuss a new 4000t/day cement production line for INC at its Puerto Vallermi Plant capable of meeting a production rate of 90,000 bags/day. Cartes has also met with executives from Paolini Hnos and Loma Negra. Construction of the new line is intended to start in 2015.

Paraguay: The Paraguayan Congress is set to approve a US$67m loan to state-owned cement producer Industria Nacional del Cemento (INC) to resume investment in its Villeta and Vallemi cement plants. The funding will allow INC to continue its US$25.7m contract with FLSmidth to convert its fuel from fuel oil to coke as well as its US$6.3m contract with Claudius Peters, according to Esmerk news service. Other contracts are with Haver & Boecker, for US$7m to install two bagging facilities, and with Daca to optimise an agricultural lime plant, which is suspended due to legal issues, for US$5.9m. Overall, the investments that will be made with the loan will save INC US$30m/yr.