Cement News tagged under: Colombia

RSS feed

Colombia's regulator investigates price fixing

22 August 2013, Published under Cement News

Colombia's Superintendency of Industry and Commerce will be opening an investigation into the alleged price-fixing by five local cement companies. The regulator will examine whether Holcim (Colombia), Cementos Argos, Cementos Tequendama, Cemex Colombia and Cementos Marcos have been colluding in the setting of cement prices over the past three years. The regulator has said it will look into "an alleged agreement to fix prices and divide up the market”. The superintendency has claimed that...

Colombia’s cement price rose 8% in 1H13

12 August 2013, Published under Cement News

In 1H213, cement prices in Colombia rose eight per cent, well above the country’s inflation rate of 1.73 per cent in the period, according to a report in El Tiempo. The price also compares unfavourably with other Latin American countries. Based on sales at retail stores, Colombian customers can pay up to US$250/t in a city away from any cement plant, while in Peru this price is US$158/t and in Argentina US$199/t. In Panama and Costa Rica, customers pay US$227 and US$240/t, respectively. H...

Cemex Latin American Holdings recovers in 2Q

25 July 2013, Published under Cement News

Cemex Latin American Holdings' first-half turnover improved by 2.8 per cent to US$814m and the EBITDA rose by 12.2 per cent to US$306.4m. The increase at the trading level was a somewhat more modest 7.3 per cent to US$260.3m. After a net interest charge of US$58.8m, the pre-tax profit emerged at US$193.4m. Net debt at the end of June stood at US$1411m, giving a gearing level of 103.9 per cent. Cement shipments in the period was 1.7 per cent lower at 3.62Mt, while aggregates deliveries wer...

Argos sees higher volumes in 1H13

23 July 2013, Published under Cement News

Cementos Argos has reported a rise in cement volumes for the six months to the end of June 2013 and expects activity in its domestic market of Colombia to accelerate after a slow start in the first three months. In the 1H13, Argos reported consolidated EBITDA of COP476bn (US$253m), representing an increase of 25 per cent compared to the same period in 2012, while revenues rose nine per cent YoY. During the period cement dispatches increased by one per cent to 5.5Mt while concrete volumes ...

Colombia cement consumption slips in May

28 June 2013, Published under Cement News

Colombia’s cement demand slipped by 0.3 per cent in May, driven by a decrease at retail level. Distribution to builders and contractors as well as ready-mix companies, according to the national statistics office Dane. In Córdoba, Bolívar and Atlantico cement demand advanced 3.4 percentage points. Bogotá, Nariño and Cesar recorded the largest declines, well below the national average, at -15.5, -38.2 and 20.5 per cent, respectively. Output from the country’s cement plants increased by o...

Colombia sees 16.4% rise in cement demand

29 May 2013, Published under Cement News

The Colombian cement market increased its demand 16.4 per cent YoY to 0.919Mt in April, latest figures from the country's statistics office, Dane, reveal. Key players in the April rise were builders and contractors (35.3 per cent share), concrete companies (19.1 per cent) and retail (9.3 per cent). Geographically-speaking, major rises occurred in Cundinamarca, Antioquia and Atlantic departments. The country’s cement manufacturers produced 0.888Mt of cement in April 2013 – a 4.2 per cen...

Cementos Argos issues US$765m to finance expansion plans

10 May 2013, Published under Cement News

Colombia's leading cement producer Cementos Argos has  issued COP1.4trn (US$765m) worth of preferred shares to finance expansion plans. The company sold the 182 million shares at COP7,700 each to both domestic and foreign investors, receiving offers worth COP2.1trn, the company said in a statement. It may sell another 32 million shares in a second round at the same price per share, it said.

Cemex Latin American Holdings has a weaker first quarter

26 April 2013, Published under Cement News

Cemex Latin American Holdings reported a 2.5 per cent decline in first quarter turnover to US$383.3m, but the EBITDA did improve by 8.1 per cent to US$140.7m. The increase at the trading level was a more modest 1.9 per cent to US$117.5m. After a net interest charge of US$29.4m, the pre-tax profit emerged at US$83.2m. Net debt at the end of March amounted to US$1514m, giving a gearing level of 119.9 per cent. Cement shipments in the quarter declined by 8.4 per cent to 1.69m, of w...

Argos share offering open for 15 days, Colombia

18 April 2013, Published under Cement News

Colombia's largest cement maker, Cementos Argos, has opened for offers 250m preferred shares, a bookbuilding process to end on 8 May 2013 to raise between (US$1.05bn-US$1.27bn). Argos has set a range of between COP7700 and 9300 Colombian pesos ($4.20 to $5.07) per share for the offering, the company said in a statement published in local media. Argos said it will issue the shares in two stages. The company will first offer 182 million preferred shares, and plans to do a second issuanc...

Cementos Argos to issue shares to finance expansion, Colombia

17 April 2013, Published under Cement News

Colombia’s largest cement producer Cementos Argos plans to issue up to 250m preferred shares to finance an expansion plan, the company said on Tuesday. Argos has set a range of between COP7700-9300 (US$4.20 to US$5.07) per share for the offering, the company said in a statement to Colombia's financial regulator. Argos is expected to give more details later this week, according to market sources.