
Displaying items by tag: Mexico
Cemex to invest US$1.4bn in operations in 2025
04 June 2025Mexico: Cemex will invest US$1.4bn in 2025 to strengthen its financial position, maintain liquidity and focus on projects delivering high profitability, including potential acquisitions in the US. Between January and March 2025, it invested US$221m, down from US$249m in the same period of 2024. It expects to invest a further US$1.15bn over the rest of 2025, subject to financial results and market conditions.
Cemex CEO Jaime Muguiro Domínguez said that the company will eventually transition its capital expenditure to acquisitions of small and medium-sized companies in the US that can ‘provide greater profitability.’ He added “Given the increased uncertainty in the current global macroeconomic environment, we will make sure that our capital allocation decisions do not compromise our financial metrics.”
Bolivia: Empresa Pública de Cementos Bolivia (ECEBOL) will begin exporting 12,500t/month of clinker to Mexico from June or July 2025, following the finalisation of a supply contract in late May 2025, according to Ahora El Pueblo newspaper.
Technical manager Aldo Olivera said that the deal will be Ecebol’s first clinker export contract, and that negotiations have been underway for several months. Oliviera said that the company hoped to achieve between US$7m - 8m over the course of the contract.
Cemex reports 2025 first-quarter results
28 April 2025Mexico: Cemex reported a ‘record’ net income of US$734m in the first quarter of 2025. Net sales stood at US$3.65bn, down from US$3.94bn year-on-year, driven by higher consolidated prices partially offsetting lower volumes in Mexico. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) reached US$601m, compared to US$731m in the previous quarter.
In Mexico, sales reached US$981m, a 25% year-on-year decrease from US$1.31bn in the previous corresponding period. The US also recorded a slight decline in sales from US$1.2bn to US$1.19bn in the first quarter of 2025. The Europe, Middle East and Africa region recorded a 2% increase in sales from US$1.07bn to US$1.04bn, and the South, Central America and the Caribbean region recorded sales of US$314m, a 2% increase from US$206m in the first quarter of 2024.
Under new CEO Jaime Muguiro, Cemex plans to use its ‘Project Cutting Edge’ initiative to achieve yearly EBITDA savings of at least US$150m in 2025 and savings of US$350m by 2027.
Cemex invests in Optimitive for AI process optimisation
24 April 2025Mexico: Cemex has executed an investment agreement with Spain-based AI and analytics company Optimitive through its corporate venture capital arm Cemex Ventures. The company seeks to scale Optimitive’s solution across its operations as part of its Digital Innovation in Motion programme. It aims to significantly reduce energy consumption while increasing production efficiency by ‘double-digit percentage points’, according to a press release.
Alfredo Carrato, investment and open innovation advisor at Cemex Ventures, said “We are excited about this partnership with Optimitive, given the impressive results they have already achieved in Europe and the US in projects to date with Cemex.”
GCC reports declining sales in first quarter of 2025
23 April 2025Mexico: GCC has reported a 10% year-on-year decline in its net sales to US$247m in the first quarter of 2025, from US$273m a year earlier. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 11% to US$73.6m. US concrete volumes rose by 5%, as well as cement and concrete prices across the US and Mexico.
CEO Enrique Escalante said “Despite the challenges we faced during the first quarter, including adverse weather conditions and a dynamic global environment, the fundamentals of our business remain strong. As we move forward, we remain cautiously optimistic, supported by our ability to adapt quickly and leverage our competitive advantages to drive growth throughout the year.”
GCC secures loans to expand Odessa plant
17 April 2025US: Mexico-based GCC has concluded two bank loan agreements totalling US$135m to fund the expansion of its cement plant in Odessa, Texas. The loans have five- and ten-year maturities respectively, and will support development at the site. GCC did not provide further details in its statement.
It said “These facilities reflect GCC's continued commitment to strengthen its operating and financial performance, while increasing the company's financial flexibility.”
In addition to the Odessa plant, the producer has cement plants in Rapid City, South Dakota; Trident, Montana; Tijeras, New Mexico; and Pueblo, Colorado.
US: Carbon Upcycling Technologies has appointed Markus Kritzler as its Chief Revenue Officer.
Kritzler previously worked as Head of Group Strategy at LafargeHolcim in the mid 2010s. He later became the Director of Strategy, Marketing and Innovation at Holcim México. More recently he was the managing director of Ingenia Capital in Mexico. Kritzler holds a degree in industrial engineering from the Universidad Iberoamericana Ciudad de México and a master of business administration from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business.
Carbon Upcycling sells technology that enhances supplementary cementitious materials through methods such as capturing and utilising CO2 emissions.
US tariffs and the cement sector, April 2025
09 April 2025President Trump said he was going to do it… and he did. The US announced tariffs on most imports on 2 April 2025 that took effect from 5 April 2025. So, once again, we ask what the consequences of this might be upon the cement sector.
Country | Volume (Mt) | Value (US$m) | Tariff | Added cost (US$m) |
Türkiye | 7.16 | 595.88 | 10% | 59.59 |
Canada | 4.85 | 577.02 | 25% | 144.26 |
Vietnam | 4.17 | 336.70 | 46% | 154.88 |
Mexico | 1.32 | 190.43 | 25% | 47.61 |
Greece | 1.82 | 139.81 | 20% | 27.96 |
Algeria | 0.96 | 86.36 | 30% | 25.91 |
Colombia | 0.86 | 81.11 | 10% | 8.11 |
UAE | 0.90 | 80.29 | 10% | 8.03 |
Egypt | 0.71 | 75.64 | 10% | 7.56 |
Spain | 0.59 | 47.56 | 20% | 9.51 |
Table 1: Estimated burden of US tariffs on selected countries importing cement based on 2024 data. Source: Based on USGS data.
Global Cement Magazine Editorial Director Robert McCaffrey posted a similar table to the one above on LinkedIn on 4 April 2025. It applies the new import tariffs to the value of imported hydraulic cement and clinker to the US in 2024 as reported by the United States Geological Survey (USGS). As such it gives us a starting idea of how the new tariffs might change what happens in 2025. For an idea of the volumes of cement imported to the US in recent years refer to the graph in GCW695.
However, a couple of key caveats were pointed out by commentators to that LinkedIn post. Marty Ozinga noted that the values from the USGS are customs values. Crucially, he said that the tariffs will be charged upon the FOB value of cement at the point of origin and not on the transport costs. This is significant because the cost of moving the cement can sometimes be more than half the total values reported in the table for certain countries. Another commentator wanted to make it clear that tariffs on imports are imposed upon the supply chain and are paid somewhere along it, typically by end users, rather than the originating country. Elsewhere, the feeling was very much one of waiting to see what would happen next and how markets would reorder.
Taken at face value, the first takeaway from Table 1 is that the variable tariffs disrupt the competitiveness of the importers. Any importer from a country with the lowest rate, 10%, now has an advantage over those with higher ones. Türkiye seems to be the obvious winner here as it was both the largest importer of cement in 2024 and it has the lowest rate. Vietnam appears to be a loser with a massive 46% rate. Canada and Mexico may have problems with a 25% tariff but how their cement gets to the US market may make a big difference as Ozinga mentions above. And so it goes down the list. What may be significant is how the order of the importers further down the list changes. For example, Algeria has a 30% rate compared to Egypt’s 10%. Both nations exported a similar volume of cement to the US in 2024.
The first casualty of the last week has been market certainty. The US announced the tariffs and stock markets slumped around the world. They started to revive on 8 April 2025 as the US government made more reassuring noises about trade talks but this was dampened by renewed fears of a US - China trade war. The orthodox economic view is that the US tariffs are increasingly likely to cause a recession in the US in the short term regardless of whether they have a more positive effect on the longer one. This view can be detected in former PCA economist Ed Sullivan’s latest independent report on the US economy. He acknowledged the fairness argument the US government has made, but warned of stagflation.
On the US construction market, prices look set to rise in areas that previously relied on imports or are near to them. Cement companies in the US should be able to sell higher volumes as some level of domestic production outcompetes imports. The sector produced 86Mt in 2024 and has a capacity of 120Mt/yr giving it a utilisation rate of 72%. It imported 20 - 25Mt of cement in 2024. One sign of this happening might be renewed investment in local capacity through upgrades, new lines and even new plants. However, a recession would reduce overall consumption. On the equipment side, there is likely to be a similar readjustment between local and foreign suppliers. Certainly, if the tariffs stick around then more non-US companies may be tempted to set up local subsidiaries and /or manufacturing bases if conditions permit. For example, note JCB’s doubling in size this week of a plant it is building in Texas. One interesting situation might occur if a US cement company wants to build a new production line. All the likely suppliers, at present at least, appear to be based outside of the US.
Finally, despite everything, Holcim declared this week that it had completed a $3.4bn bond offering ahead of the impending spin-off of Amrize in the US noting “strong investor interest in the future company.” It wants to shore-up confidence ahead of the creation of the new company at some point in the first half of the year. Holcim’s CEO said previously that he didn’t expect any blowback from tariffs as the company was a local business in the US. What may be worth watching for is whether the current disruption to stock markets causes any delays to the creation of Amrize.
The current situation with the tariffs is prompting a rapid-revaluation of the US construction market and the wider economy. US-based building materials companies look set to benefit but there may be disruption along the way. Foreign companies supplying the sector may well experience sharp changes in circumstances depending on how tariffs reorder supply chains. Prices for end-users look set to rise. We live in interesting times.
For Ed Sullivan’s take on the US cement sector read his article in the May 2025 issue of Global Cement Magazine
Changes to Cemex’s regional heads start in April 2025
02 April 2025Mexico: Changes to Cemex’s regional management started on 1 April 2025 following the appointment of Jaime Muguiro as new group CEO. Jesus Gonzalez has been appointed as president of Cemex USA, Sergio Menendez as president of Cemex Mexico, Jose Antonio Cabrera as president of Cemex Europe, Middle East, and Africa and Alejandro Ramirez as president of Cemex South, Central America, and the Caribbean.
Jesús González joined Cemex in 1998 and has held several management positions, including Corporate Director of Strategic Planning, Vice President of Strategic Planning in Cemex USA, President of Cemex Central America, President of Cemex UK, Executive Vice President of Sustainability and Operations Development and, most recently, President of Cemex South, Central America and the Caribbean. He holds a master’s degree in naval engineering from the Polytechnic University of Madrid and a master’s of business administration (MBA) from IESE - University of Navarra, Barcelona.
Sergio Menéndez has worked for Cemex since 1993. Prominent roles he has held include Director of Planning and Logistics in Asia, Corporate Director of Commercial Development, President of Cemex Philippines, Vice President of Strategic Planning for the Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asia region, President of Cemex Egypt, Vice President of Infrastructure Segment and Government Sales in Mexico, Vice President of Distribution Segment Sales in Mexico and most recently, President of Cemex Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia. He holds an undergraduate degree in industrial engineering from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey and an MBA from Stanford University.
José Antonio Cabrera joined Cemex in 2000 and started in cement operation roles. He has since worked as President for Cemex in Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Haiti, as well as Vice President of Strategic Planning for Cemex in the Asia, Middle East and Africa region. He holds an undergraduate degree in physics from La Laguna University in Spain and an MBA from the IE Business School.
Alejandro Ramírez has worked for Cemex since 2000 starting in strategic planning roles. He later became President for Cemex in Colombia & Peru, Dominican Republic, Caribbean, Costa Rica, TCL Group, Puerto Rico, Argentina and Thailand. He holds a degree in Industrial Engineering from the Tecnológico de Monterrey and an MBA from Wharton business school.
US cement shipments fall by 6% to 103Mt in 2024
12 March 2025US: Cement shipments fell by 6% year-on-year to 103Mt in 2024 from 109Mt in 2023. Data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) shows that domestic shipments of Portland and blended cement decreased by 6% to 82.9Mt from 88.2Mt. However, imports only dipped slightly to 19.8Mt. Particular declines in shipments were recorded in the north-east and Texas. Türkiye remained the biggest source of imports in 2024 (7.16Mt), followed by Canada (4.85Mt), Vietnam (4.17Mt), Greece (1.82Mt) and Mexico (1.32Mt). Clinker production dropped by 7% to 71.6Mt from 76.8Mt.