Displaying items by tag: Peru

Peru: Grupo Unacem reported consolidated sales of US$530m in the third quarter of 2025, up by 0.3% year-on-year, driven mainly by the favourable performance of its operations in Peru, Ecuador and Chile. EBITDA reached US$121m. In Peru, third-quarter cement shipments were 1.56Mt, up by 3% from the third quarter of 2024, and sales were US$202m, up by 1.5% year-on-year. The company’s capital expenditure was US$138m, up by 11% year-on-year. In Ecuador, third-quarter 2025 revenues reached US$47.2m, a 3% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Unacem North America reported cement shipments of 323,000t during the third quarter, representing a 0.7% year-on-year increase. Finally, Unacem Chile recorded shipments of 277,000m³ of ready-mix concrete, a 38% increase compared to the third quarter of 2024.

Corporate CEO Pedro Lerner said “In Peru, we continue to see a positive trend, with a quarter in which our prefabricated building business achieved record revenues and market activity supported this performance. In the US, despite the challenging environment, we have maintained our market share in Arizona and increased it in California, which reaffirms the strength of our operation. We also highlight the modernisation of Termochilca, which exceeded the expected efficiency levels.”

Corporate strategy manager Alicia Campos said “This quarter our portfolio showed resilient performance, with higher volumes in Peru, Ecuador and Chile, along with sustained growth in our energy platform. EBITDA reflects this operational strength, while capital expenditure responded to the execution of strategic and sustainability projects, including environmental and efficiency improvements in our operations. These advances continue to strengthen our position and support the year-to-date performance.”

Peru: National cement shipments reached 1.23Mt in October 2025, up by 9% compared to October 2024 and up by 5% over the past 12 months, according to ASOCEM. Cement production rose by 6% year-on-year to 1.08Mt, while clinker output increased by 36% compared to October 2024, to 0.87Mt.

Cement exports fell by 7% year-on-year to 10,837t, while clinker exports rose by 202% to 108,345t for October 2025, a rolling 12-month rise of 16%. Cement imports grew by 393% year-on-year to 157,233t and grew by  133% over the past 12 months. Clinker imports also increased by 200% year-on-year to 130,055t, and by 72% over the last 12 months.

Peru: UNACEM has appointed José Antonio Becerra Figuerola as Operations Manager.

Becerra previously worked as an Assistant Production Manager for UNACEM. Before this he held positions at SC Volcán from 2012 to 2022 in operations, plant and project management. Earlier in his career he worked for UNACEM from the mid-1990s to the mid 2010s in engineering and project management roles. Becerra is an engineering graduate from the University of Lima with a master of business administration qualification from Escuela de Administración de Negocios para Graduados (ESAN).

Peru: National cement despatches reached 1.17Mt in September 2025, up by 10% year-on-year and 4% higher over the 12-month period, according to ASOCEM. Cement production totalled 1.05Mt, rising by 6% year-on-year and by 1% over the past 12 months. Clinker production reached 668,000t, up by 1% year-on-year but down by 10% in the 12-month period.

Cement exports fell by 10% year-on-year to 10,400t in September 2025, but rose by 9% across 12 months. Clinker exports increased by 88% to 70,500t, but declined by 2% in the annual period. Cement imports dropped by 41% year-on-year to 12,600t but more than doubled, up 105% over 12 months. Clinker imports surged by 90% to 161,000t, up 49% on the 12-month basis.

US: Peru-based UNACEM has appointed Rafael Villalona as the CEO of its operations in North America.

Previously, Villalona was the CEO of Cemex in the UAE from 2020. He worked for the cement producer in various roles from 2007 starting in the Dominican Republic. He became the Country Manager for Jamaica in 2011, Haiti in 2015 and the group’s Vice President Commercial & Logistics based in Egypt in 2019. He was also the chair of the Mexican Business Council in the UAE in 2024 and 2025. Villalona holds an undergraduate degree in civil engineering from the Ohio State University and a master’s degree in engineering from the University of Maryland.

Peru: National cement dispatches reached 1.15Mt in August 2025, up by 4.4% year-on-year, according to the Asociación de Productores de Cemento (ASOCEM). On a 12-month rolling basis, dispatches grew by 3% year-on-year. Cement production stood at 1.04Mt, a 2% increase compared to August 2024 and 1% higher over the 12-month cumulative period. In contrast, clinker production dropped to 630,000t, down by 20% year-on-year and 12% lower on a 12-month basis.

Cement exports fell by 6% to 10,962t compared to August 2024, though they rose 10% over the 12 months. Clinker exports reached 72,006t, down by 3% and 11% lower across the 12-month cumulative period. Imports of cement saw a significant 565% increase to 10,763t, up by 109% over the 12-month period. Clinker imports stood at 35,396t, falling by 56% from August 2024 but still 43% higher in the 12-month comparison.

Peru: National cement despatches rose by 6% year-on-year to 1.1Mt in July 2025 and by 2% over the past 12 months, according to the Asociación de Productores de Cemento (ASOCEM). Cement production grew by 6.5% year-on-year to 0.97Mt, while clinker output fell by 22% year-on-year to 0.69Mt. Cement exports rose by 28% year-on-year to 13,300t, and clinker exports fell by 12% compared to July 2024 to 32,600t. Cement imports dropped by 63% compared to the previous corresponding period to 8000t, while clinker imports grew by 81% to 85,000t.

Holcim Mexico has been promoting itself as the lynchpin of the group’s growth in Latin America this week. The move makes sense following the spin-off of Holcim’s North America business in late June 2025. The company says that Mexico has a housing deficit, has the highest profitability margin in Latin America and it is leading the transformation toward circular and low-carbon construction.

The bullseye on Latin America was first planted by Holcim in the group’s NextGen Growth 2030 strategy that was released in March 2025. With the company preparing to separate off its most profitable section in the US, it decided to highlight new reasons for investors to stay interested. The summary was ‘focused investment’ in attractive markets in Latin America, Europe, North Africa and Australia, sustainability-driven growth with demolition materials singled out and an emphasis on the building solutions division. Although the Latin America division supplied the smallest geographical share of new group net sales in 2024 (US$3.9bn, 19%), the profitability metric presented, recurring earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) margin, gave the region the highest result. Or in other words, Holcim is telling investors that it may have divested North America but it still has business south of the Rio Grande… and it looks promising. It then said that it has the ‘best’ geographical coverage and vertical integration in the region and the largest construction materials retail franchise in the form of Disensa.

Understandably, the likes of Cemex, Cementos Argos, Votorantim and others might take exception to some of this. For example, Cemex reported net sales in excess of US$6bn in Latin America and the Caribbean, and Votorantim reported net sales of around US$4.8bn in 2024. Yet, Holcim’s claim of regional spread does carry some weight. It purchased Comacsa and Mixercon in Peru and assets from Cemex in Guatemala in 2024. At the end of the year the group owned integrated cement plants in Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru. Plus it held grinding plants in the French Antilles and Nicaragua. All of these are majority-owned subsidiaries, often also with aggregate, ready-mixed concrete and building systems businesses. Holcim may have sold up in Brazil in 2022 but it still holds a relatively intact network in Latin America.

Graph 1: Grey cement production in Mexico, 2020 - April 2025, rolling 12 months. Source: National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI).

As for the market, Holcim reported modest but growing net sales in Latin America in 2024, despite lower sales volumes plus elections in Mexico, economic issues in Argentina and political instability in Ecuador. Focusing on Mexico, local cement volumes were said to be stable, aided by a recovery in bagged cement in spite of bulk sales falling on the back of fewer infrastructure projects. Holcim Mexico also spent US$55m on building a new grinding unit at its integrated Macuspana plant in Tabasco. Once complete, the update will increase the site’s capacity by 0.5Mt/yr to 1.5Mt/yr.

Cemex, the market leader in Mexico, released more direct information. It saw its sales and operating earnings fall in 2024. This was blamed on a poor second half to the year following the presidential election in June 2024. GCC’s sales fell more sharply in 2024 and this was blamed on “energy infrastructure limitations and permitting delays in Juarez.” So far in 2025, in the first quarter, the pain in Mexico for the construction sector has continued, with both Cemex and GCC noting strong falls in cement volumes and sales due to a slowdown in industrial demand. Holcim has not reported on Mexico directly so far in 2025 only saying that sales have risen in local currencies in Latin America as a whole in the first quarter. Cemex started a cost cutting exercise in February 2025 in response to the situation. Graph 1 above shows Mexican cement production. Although it should be noted that Cemex and GCC still run subsidiaries in the US. Holcim now does not. Rolling 12-month cement production figures in Mexico started falling in September 2024 and continued to do so until April 2025, the date of the latest data provided by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography.

Despite falling volumes though, the price of cement in Mexico remains high by international standards. At the start of July 2025 the National Association of Independent Businessmen (ANEI) raised the alarm that distributors had warned of an 8% price rise on the way. It’s in this environment that news stories such as Bolivia-based Empresa Pública de Cementos Bolivia (ECEBOL), a producer in a landlocked and mountainous country, preparing to export clinker to Mexico from July 2025 start to sound credible. Sales may have been down in Mexico in 2024 but earnings and margins remain high. In the medium-to-longer term the country looks even more promising, with plenty of scope for development and building products. Ditto the rest of Latin America.

One way a multinational heavy building materials company with a presence in sustainability-obsessed Europe might gain an advantage in the region is by using its knowledge to capture the easier decarbonisation routes first. This is exactly the route Holcim and Holcim Mexico seem to be taking by promoting lower carbon cement and concrete products, and by growing the recycling of demolition materials. Another option, of course, is that Holcim is bolstering its Latin America division ahead of a potential divestment. Either way, Holcim is presenting a plan for growth in its new form, shorn of North America. It’s all to play for.

Peru: National cement shipments rose by 6% year-on-year to 0.98Mt in June 2025, bringing the 12-month total up by 2%. Cement production reached 0.9Mt, up by 2% year-on-year, while clinker output rose by 24% year-on-year to 0.85Mt. Cement exports increased by 33% year-on-year to 12,000t and clinker exports rose by 166% to 98,300t during the same period.

Cement imports grew by 142% year-on-year to 71,000t, while clinker imports also increased by 496% compared to June 2024, to 0.1Mt.

Peru: National cement shipments rose by 5% year-on-year to 1.01Mt in May 2025 and by 0.7% over the 12-month period, since the start of June 2024, according to national cement association ASOCEM. Cement production reached 929,000t, up by 5% year-on-year and down by 1% in the 12-month period. Clinker production rose by 16% year-on-year to 832,000t but fell by 7% across the 12-month period.

Cement exports dropped by 27% to 7900t year-on-year, while rising by 4% over 12 months. Clinker exports rose by 0.4% year-on-year to 70,600t but declined by 31% across the 12-month period. Cement imports dropped by 28% year-on-year to 9000t and rose by 99% in the 12-month period. Clinker imports rose by 213% year-on-year to 88,000t and increased by 31% across the 12-month period.