Argentine cement manufacturer Loma Negra is analysing the launch of a US$500m bond programme, the company said in a filing to the local stock exchange.   
 
The brief statement set a shareholders meeting for Jan. 10 to consider the bond programme. The company gave no further details about the potential debt issuances or how it plans to use the money raised through the placements. A Wednesday report in financial daily El Cronista said Loma Negra will use some US$110m for a debt buyback and funnel a further US$100m into its investment plan.   
 
In October, the Argentine government approved Brazilian engineering concern Camargo Correa’s US$1.025bn purchase of Holdtotal SA, a local company whose main asset is Loma Negra. The Brazilian company said then that it plans to invest US$100m over the next three years in Argentina to increase production capacity and expand a cargo railway line. Holdtotal operates the Ferrosur Roca cargo rail network.  
 
Loma Negra is Argentina’s largest cement producer and has annual output capacity of 7.5Mt of cement and 700,000m3 of reinforced concrete. Camargo Correa’s yearly production is 14Mt of cement and 1Mm3 of reinforced concrete.  
  Published under Cement News