Chile producers post Q1 gains
Cementos Bío Bío saw net profits jump 20.1 per cent to 7.13bn pesos (US$13.9m) in the first quarter compared to 1Q05, while Cemento Polpaico and Grupo Melón’s profits grew 12.8 per cent and 0.79 per cent, respectively, to 6.14bn pesos and 8.31bn pesos.
Polpaico saw revenue climb 3.57 per cent to 36.3bn pesos and operating profit edge up 1.62 per cent to 7.22bn pesos; while Melón’s revenue grew 12.2 per cent to 44.6bn pesos and operating profit rose 12.5 per cent to 9.23bn pesos.
In 1Q06, Polpaico led domestic cement shipments with 393,002t, up 7.03 per cent from the same period 2005, according to Chile’s cement and concrete institute ICH. Melón and Bío Bío followed with 371,963t and 314,424t, respectively, up 3.46 per cent and 11.4 per cent.
In 2005, Melón, controlled by France’s Lafarge, led cement shipments with 1.40Mt, followed by Polpaico with 1.39Mt and Bío Bío with 1.21Mt. Swiss cement group Holcim controls Polpaico and Chile’s Briones group controls Bío Bío. Published under Cement News
