Honduran cement company Incehsa has dismissed speculation that its French parent company Lafarge has launched a $US50mn bid for its Honduran competitor Cemento América. Honduran daily La Prensa, citing an unnamed "official source," said that Incehas’ French parent company Lafarge is currently in advanced negotiations to buy the rival cement company.

However, an Incehsa official told BNamericas that reports of a takeover bid were simply "rumors and speculation," without commenting further.

Cemento América (Cemar) began operations last year when it started supplying cement to the Choluteca and Valle regions of Honduras. Their appearance in the market sparked a fierce price war with Incehsa, with the price of a 42.5kg bag of cement dropping from 80 (US$4.50) to 46 lempiras (US$2.60).

Cemar’s production plant is located in the village of La Criba in San Lorenzo department. The 650m lempira (US$36.5m) plant was built in 2000.  Its main shareholders are the Taiheiyo Cement Corporation of Japan, and a consortium of investors from the US, Nicaragua and El Salvador known as Grupo Cerna.

Published under Cement News