TCL announces expansion plan

Trinidad Cement (TCL) plans to spend up to US$161m expanding and upgrading its facilities over the next four years, the Trinidad Guardian reported.  The company, which experienced a two-day work stoppage by over 500 workers on Monday and Tuesday, said it will be closing two of its oldest grinding mills at Claxton Bay but will be upgrading another grinding mill in the same area.  The company will also upgrade its grinding mill at its Mayo plant in central Trinidad, where its limestone and sand quarries are located.

TCL also plans to establish a cement bagging and bulk-cement facility in Guyana, in conjunction with the Guyana National Industrial Company (GNIC), which could be completed by year-end.  The company’s current cement production level is 780,000tpa, which should increase to 1.2Mt after the expansion.

The paper quoted TCL general manager Arun Goyal as saying that the company is looking to enter the Haitian market and to expand its exports to Grenada, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, St. Maarten and Suriname.