Humphreys maintains Cementos Bio Bio bond rating

Chilean ratings agency Humphreys has maintained its AA- rating on bonds issued by local cement maker Cementos Bío Bío, the agency said Thursday. The rating in part reflects Bio Bio’s sector experience, its raw materials deposits, the adequate capacity of its production plants, its management and control capacity and bill collection systems.

Factors that could negatively impact the rating include the local market’s large installed capacity and sector vulnerability to economic crises and exchange-rate fluctuations. The outlook is "in observation" pending an evolution of the results of Bio Bio’s CISA subsidiary and how Bio Bio manages its investment plan, which calls for US$200m in the next five years.

In the first half of this year, Bio Bio held a 28.9 per cent share of the local market (534,268t), behind Empresas Melon with 37.6 per cent (696,423t) and Cemento Polpaico with 33.5 per cent (620,326t). The Briones, Rozas and Stein families control 63.2 per cent of Bio Bio, Mexico’s Cemex 11.9 per cent and others the balance.