Cement industry boosted with investments of US$322m

In 2004, the Mexican cement industry will raise its investments to US$322m, funds that will be channeled to increases production, capacity, maintenance and improvements in management, said Osmín Rendón Castillo, president of the National Cement Chamber (Canacem). However, the businessman said that the high costs of materials in the sector are reducing the firm’s margins of competitivity at international level and he called for the approval of the energy reform, "since it is the opportunity to assure competitivity in Mexico, as it has been done in other nations in the world."

Rendón Castillo said that the cement industry has worked intensely to guarantee the energy supply required to make products through the use of different energy sources such as fuel oil, petroleum coke, natural gas, coal and others. Castillo said that during the 2000-2004 period, the industry’s production capacity increased 7.2% due to the dynamism observed in the sector.