Cement News tagged under: Mexico

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Cemex creates Cemex Energia

20 February 2015, Published under Cement News

Cemex announced today the creation of Cemex Energia, an energy division that aims to develop a portfolio of power projects that will supply about 3-5 per cent of Mexico's electricity needs over the next five years. “We are very enthusiastic about Mexico’s energy sector future, and we will leverage on our experience in developing projects that benefit the country,” said Fernando A Gonzalez, CEO of Cemex. First milestone The first milestone achieved by the new unit is the signing of a jo...

Mexico: LH merger green light

18 February 2015, Published under Cement News

Mexico’s Federal Commission for Economic Competition (Cofece) has granted approval for the merger of Lafarge and Holcim (LH). Lafarge is a market player in Mexico through an indirect stake in ELC Tenedora de Cementos, which produces white and grey cement in its plants in Hidalgo state. “On 16 December 2014, Lafarge sold its stake in ELC to Elementia and as such does no longer have any stake in the Mexican cement industry and therefore, the operation does not have any effect on the str...

Cemex’ US EBITDA rises by 65% and trading loss almost eliminated

06 February 2015, Published under Cement News

Cemex' turnover improved by 3.2 per cent in 2014 to US$15,708.5m and the EBITDA advanced by 3.7 per cent to US$2740.5m, while the trading profit rose by 12.3 per cent to US$1275.6m. The net interest charge rose yet again and was up by 4.3 per cent to US$1608.4m, while the pre-tax loss was reduced by 53.2 per cent to US$124m and the net attributable loss emerged 39.8 per cent lower at US$507.3m.  Net debt, including perpetual notes, declined by 6.7 per cent during the year to US$16,291...

Fitch upgrades GCC’s ratings, outlook to stable

23 January 2015, Published under Cement News

Fitch has raised the credit rating of Mexican cement firm Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua (GCC) to BB-, in both local and foreign currency, with a stable outlook. Fitch said in a statement that ratings upgrade reflects GCC's strong operating performance over the past several quarters, its significantly improved credit profile following debt repayments during 2014 and the successful debt refinancing during 2013. The upgrade takes into consideration the improvement in the US cement market and an ...

Stronger markets in 2015?

09 January 2015, Published under Cement News

What does 2015 have in store for the cement sector? After three relatively poor years in terms of global construction expansion, Morgan Stanley (UK) predicts a tentative recovery in world consumption in spite of a significant slowdown in China, according to new analysis published in International Cement Review. Morgan Stanley expects global cement demand, inclusive of China, to rise to 2.8 per cent in 2015, marginally up from the 2.5 per cent growth recorded in 2014, which was the ...

Cemex

06 January 2015, Published under Cement News

Cemex is restarting work on expanding the Tepeaca works in the state of Puebla, Mexico, that was halted in 2008, with a view of completing the expansion in 2017. This will require an additional US$200m to be spent on top of the US$450m spent up to 2008. When the work is completed, it is expected to raise Tepeaca’s capacity from the current 3.2 to 7.6Mta.   Cemex is building a new cement works in Colombia for completion in 2017. The equipment for the new Cementera del Magdalena Medio cement ...

Cementos Argos

23 December 2014, Published under Cement News

Cementos Argos has pulled out of the running for any Brazilian assets being sold off following the Lafarge/Holcim merger. According to Cementos Argos, any potential purchase would not “generate the value its investments would expect”. UltraTech Cement has reportedly also followed suit with the Brazilian economy being blamed by many for the u-turn. Brazil has seen its economy shrink by 0.9 per cent in 2Q14 and a further 0.25 per cent in the third quarter. Growth of around 1.4 per cent is p...

Cemex to resume Tepeaca plant expansion

02 December 2014, Published under Cement News

Cemex announced that it is to restart the expansion of its Tepeaca cement plant in Mexico having put the project on hold in 2008. The additional investment involves 4.4Mta of new capacity at a cost of around US$200m, taking the total spend on the Tepeaca plant to US$650m. The company had already spent US$450m on the project by 2008. Upon completion in 2017, total capacity of the plant will reach 7.6Mta. “We are encouraged by our industry’s positive outlook in Mexico. With this investment,...

Mexico: Elementia IPO in 1Q15

27 November 2014, Published under Cement News

Eduardo Musalem, Elementia’s CEO, said the Mexican cement company is looking to list shares during the 1Q15 if market conditions are good. "We are ready to debut in the market," said Mr Musalem. "It could be the end of January, if the posibility exists, or February or March." Elementia agreed to buyout Lafarge’s 47 per cent in the joint venture company in September 2014. Billionaire Carlos Slim is reported to have an about 46 per cent share in Elementia though Grupo Carso.

Fitch assigns ‘BB+(EXP)’ to Elementia proposed notes, Outlook Stable

18 November 2014, Published under Cement News

Fitch Ratings has assigned an expected rating of 'BB+(EXP)' to Elementia, SA de CV’s proposed US$400m notes with a maturity of up to 10 years. Proceeds from the notes issuance will be used for general corporate purposes, including the repayment of existing indebtedness and the purchase of joint venture minority interests. The new notes will rank pari passu with Elementias's existing unsecured debt. The Rating Outlook for Elementia is Stable, reflecting its “strong business profile char...