Cementos Pacasmayo says no

Peru’s Cementos Pacasmayo said it had decided against proceeding with plans to build a cement plant in the US.  "The subsidiary CEMPAC Materials LLC has decided to not continue with the project to install a cement factory in the United States," the company’s legal representative Javier Durand said in a letter to Peru’s securities regulatory agency.  The company had been considering expanding in the US, looking at building a cement plant in Nevada, according to analysts and reports.  The family-owned Hochschild group, which has widespread interests in Peru, holds a majority stake in the company.

Meanwhile, sales of cement in Peru grew 8.9 per cent in the first half of 2004 compared to the same period in 2003, according to figures released by cement association Asocem.  Total sales for the period were 2,228,364t compared to 2,046,852t in the first half of 2003. Domestic sales accounted for 1,914,494t of sales in 1H04.  Exports leapt 40.4 per cent to 313,870t, up from 223,524t in the 2003 period.