Displaying items by tag: Venezuela

Venezeula/China: The governments of Venezuela and China have struck a deal to jointly build three cement plants in Venezuela. Each of the new plants will have 2500t/day of production capacity. No investment figures were released.

Venezuela: Holcim has received the last compensation instalment of US$97.5m in connection with the nationalization of Holcim Venezuela in 2008. The Corporacion Socialista Del Cemento, which is operating the former Holcim plant, has transferred the remaining amount, which was due on 10 September 2014. The agreed total compensation amount for nationalisation of Holcim Venezuela was US$650m.

Venezuela: The governor of Yaracuy, Julio Leon, has revealed that the government is developing a 600t/day cement plant in Peña under an agreement between Venezuela and India. The plant is due to start operation in late 2014. The area contains high-quality limestone deposits with applications for other industries other than cement.

The new plant will employ 200 people directly. It is part of a proposal made by the governors of Yaracuy, Cojedes and Portuguesa states to build three mini plants, with each having been allocated US$15m. Each plant will produce 4.5 million bags of cement per year. A distribution network will be set up to allow communities to access the cement at affordable prices.

Jamaica: Caribbean Cement Company Ltd (CCCL) has commenced supply of a new 240,000t clinker order to Venezuela. The US$20.5m contract will run over an 18-month period and will help boost export revenues from the Rockfort cement plant.

The new order from Caracas extends a previous agreement that saw CCCL ship 100,000t of clinker between December 2013 and April 2014 in a US$8.5m deal. The new contract is said to signal 'business as usual' at the works, which recently saw the replacement of Brian Young as board chairman by Christopher Dehring.

In September 2014, CCCL recorded clinker exports of 80,373t, compared to 6757t in September 2013. Cement exports also increased during the January – September 2014 period, from 178,643t in 2013 to 191,556t. In addition, CCCL noted a 10,000t rise in domestic sales to 458,644t as the construction market recovers.

"The recent trend in the domestic market is expected to continue as well as improvement in the export earnings," said Caribbean Cement's chairman Dehring and director Hollis Hosein.

"In addition, we have entered into a new agreement to supply 240,000t of clinker to Venezuela, starting shipments in October 2014. We, therefore, remain cautiously optimistic that these favourable results can be sustained."

Venezuela/Switzerland: Holcim Ltd has said that it will continue to pursue a final payment of roughly US$100m from Venezuela after the country's government failed to complete compensation payments related to the nationalisation of the Swiss cement company's operations in the country.

Holcim has already received US$552.5m out of a total of US$650m compensation that it expected following the nationalisation of Holcim Venezuela in 2008.

However, Corporación Socialista Del Cemento, SA, the state-owned company that now operates the former Holcim plants, hasn't transferred a final installment of US$97.5m, according to Holcim. The payment was been due on 10 September 2014.

"Holcim is in contact with the relevant parties in Venezuela to address this situation and, if necessary, will pursue all legal steps to collect the amounts due," said a Holcim statement.

Venezuela: Iranian Mines & Mining Industries Development & Renovation Organisation (IMIDRO) has announced that Venezuela's Iranian-built 1Mt/yr capacity cement plant has started pilot production. IMIDRO, via its subsidiary company Ehdas Sanat Company, began the implementation of the project eight months ago. It is expected to go on stream shortly.

Venezuela: The Venezuelan government is considering centralising the running of all the state-run cement firms in the country under a single entity, Corporacion Socialista del Cemento. In 2009, the state took over the three main cement companies, and while the aforementioned firm owns Industria Venezolana de Cemento, Fabrica Nacional de Cementos, Cemento Andino and Venezolana de Cementos, each company currently operates autonomously.

Venezuela: On 21 July 2014 the president of Venezuelan cement producer La Corporación Socialista del Cemento, ángel Jesús Moreno Gudño, signed an agreement with the president of China's CATIC, Zou Kangning, for a new cement plant. The 1.2Mt/yr capacity plant will be located in Los Arangues, Lara State, Venezuela.

Venezuela: Cemento Andino's Trujillo plant in Venezuela is set to undergo a US$240m capacity expansion. The plant currently produces around 600,000t/yr of cement. The construction of a new production line is expected to triple Cemento Andino's capacity. The project will take around two years to complete, generating around 500 direct and 1000 indirect jobs.

Jamaica: The Caribbean Cement Company and the Venezuelan government are close to a supply agreement for approximately 340,000t of clinker. The deal is valued at about US$29m, according to the Jamaican government. The clinker will be used by Venezuela as part of an initiative to build two million homes over a seven-year span to address a housing shortage.