In recent years, cement from Vietnam has gained importance in terms of the amount purchased, as from January to September 2018 they represented 10% of total regional imports and for the same period in 2020 the proportion rose to 30%.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit of CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with the graph"]
In order to increase its production capacity in El Salvador by 58%, Holcim will invest $20 million in the reactivation of the Maya Plant and in improvements to the El Ronco Plant.
The company currently has a production capacity of 1.2 million tons of cement per year, but with the reactivation of the plant located in Metapan and the improvements of the other industrial complex, they intend to increase its capacity to 1.9 million tons.
El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua were the Central American markets that increased their hydraulic cement imports in the first half of 2020 in year-on-year terms.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit of CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with the graphic"]
During the first quarter of 2020, Central American companies imported hydraulic cement for $48 million, and purchases from Turkey increased 154% compared to the same period in 2019.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit of CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with graph"]
The Legislative Assembly approved in second debate a bill that aims to tax in the country the sale and self-consumption of imported or locally produced cement.
The initiative, which was approved in the first debate in the Assembly in mid-February and is still pending approval by the Executive Branch, establishes that the tax will be on imported cement produced nationally, in bags or in bulk, for sale or self-consumption, of any kind, whose destination is the consumption and marketing of the product nationally.
During 2020, Holcim announced that it will invest $7.5 million in the construction of six concrete production plants and the purchase of machinery.
The new concrete plants that the company is already building will be in Santa Ana, Acajutla, Apopa, Ilopango, La Paz and La Unión. These will be in addition to the 12 that Holcim already operates in the country.
After Monterrey business group completed the construction of its new industrial plant with capacity to produce 120 thousand tons of cement per year, the company is preparing to start selling in the local market.
During the first quarter of 2019, Central American companies imported hydraulic cement for $47 million, and purchases from companies in Vietnam increased 155% over the same period in 2018.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit of CentralAmericaData: [GRAPHIC caption="Click to interact with graphic"]
In the municipality of Acajutla, the Monterrey business group began construction of an industrial plant with the capacity to produce 120 thousand tons of cement per year.
Executives of the company of Guatemalan origin, reported that the construction of the industrial plant will be done on a 10-block lot that is on the road connecting Acajutla and Sonsonate.
In the first three months of 2018, countries in Central America imported $36 million worth of hydraulic cement, 9% more than was purchased in the same period in 2017.
Figures from the Information System on the Hydraulic Cement Market in Central America, compiled by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption = "Click to interact with graph"]
In the first nine months of 2017, countries in the region imported $110 million worth of hydraulic cement, 38% more than was purchased in the same period in 2016.
Figures from the information system on the Hydraulic Cement Market in Central America, compiled by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData : [GRAFICA caption = "Click to interact with the graph"]
In 2016 intraregional trade in hydraulic cement totaled $59 million, 18% less than in 2015, and the main exporter is still Costa Rica.
Figures from the information system on the the Hydraulic Cement Market in Central America, compiled by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData : [GRAFICA caption = "Click to interact with the graph"]
Between January and September 2016, the value of trade in hydraulic cement between countries of the region amounted to $48 million, 14% less than the same period in 2015.
Figures from the information system on the the Hydraulic Cement Market in Central America , compiled by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Clic para interactuar con la gráfica"]
The cement company LafargeHolcim plans to invest $3 million in improvements to the El Ronco plant and another $6 million on buying machinery and equipment.
The company will be making investments in order to improve the conditions of its production plant called El Ronco, so it can meet the increase in demand for cement generated by the construction of the hydroelectric project El Chaparral."...A month ago, LafargeHolcim began supplying cement and concrete to the companies that won the first two tenders to carry out works on the dam El Chaparral. "
The Honduran government has announced that it has signed an agreement with the italian Goldlake Group, to build a cement plant, with an estimated value of $200 million.
From a statement issued by the Presidency of Honduras:
Within the framework of the VII Italian-American Latin America and the Caribbean Conference, and with President Juan Orlando Hernandez as a witness of honor, the Government of Honduras also today signed an agreement with the Italian group Goldlake for the construction of a new cement plant in the country, at a cost of 200 million dollars.