Lafarge, Comex team up to build gypsum plant

Lafarge will team up with Mexico’s largest paint manufacturer Comex to build a gypsum production plant in the central state of Querétaro, local press reported.   The two firms will also create a new company, Comex-Lafarge, to produce and sell gypsum panels. The products will be sold at Comex’s 3000 retail stores around the country.  The companies expect the plant to begin operating in the second half of 2006. 
 
In June, Lafarge kicked off construction works on a new US$120mn plant in northern Mexico’s Hidalgo state, and expects to launch operations at the 600,000tpa grey cement plant by the end of this year. It will be the company’s second plant in Mexico, where it currently operates a facility also located in Hidalgo state. 

The moves mark yet another of the group’s attempts to increase its participation in the Mexican market.