Australian construction materials company James Hardie Industries Ltd, has sold its Chilean unit Fibre Cement to local construction materials company Compania Industrial El Volcan SA, for US$15.8m it was reported on July 11, 2005.  The sum will be paid partly in cash and partly in foreign debt assumption, according to James Hardie’s chief executive Louis Gries.  The sale will be immediate and is not expected to harm the profits of the Australian company. 
 
James Hardie started operations in Chile in 2001. The sale of the unit is part of the company’s expansion strategy, which envisages to focus on the markets of North America, Asia Pacific and Europe.  James Hardie is Australia’s fourth-largest construction materials company. 
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