Cimbec to start construction in spring 2013

Cimbec Canada, the company behind Canada’s Gaspé cement project, is expected to start construction on its Port Daniel cement works in the spring of 2013, according to Denis Boucher of National PR agency, which handles the communications for the company.

The project cost is estimated at CA$700m (US$709m) and is envisaged to create between 400-500 jobs during construction and 400 thereafter. The plant is designed to produce 2Mta and will have a port that will export cement by ship to the US. The plan is to send one boat every two weeks, ideally taking advantage of the start of the US recovery.

New environmental regulations in the United States will result in the closure of many old and polluting cement plants. The cement requirements are "huge" and export by ship generates substantial savings, Boucher added.

He said the project would not require further injection of new public funds, except for some aid in training the workforce. The first version of the project had required substantial assistance from the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and Investissement Québec (IQ). In 2005, CDPQ had filed a lawsuit demanding repayment of loans totaling CA$38.9m with interest. IQ was in turn provided assistance of CA$15m in the late 1990s.

In the late afternoon, the spokesman of the CDPQ, Jean-Benoît Houde, noted that CDPQ and the new owners had agreed to settle the dispute, but that the terms of the agreement were secret.