Paraguay river flooding reduces INC output capacity

Due to the flooding of the Paraguay River, Industria Nacional del Cemento in Paraguay will operate at only 70 per cent of its production capacity this week, said its president Jorge Méndez.

He attributes the fall due to wet raw material to the mill, but expects dry raw inputs to arrive on Friday. "From Friday dry raw material will arrive and we will increase the mill capacity. We will have a 70 percent average production of 35,000 bags for about 10 days, due to the moisture content of the product," he said.

From Monday onwards, the drive to reach the production target of 65,000 bags will resume. This covers around 60 per cent of domestic market requirements, up from the current 45 per cent.

Mr Méndez also said the company needs to invest in a fuel conversion process, replace of certain equipment, a drilling machine for its quarry and a pozzolan dryer. If these investments are carried out, the company expects to save around US$100m and would see a return on the investment in about three years.