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.
The restriction to the construction activity due to the sanitary emergency and culmination of the third set of locks of the Canal, forces the cement producing companies in Panama to enter in "hibernation" mode.
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.
In Panama, the import of cement and the depressed activity of the construction sector explain the fall in the production of concrete and cement in the first half of the year.
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 half of this year, the country demanded 2.2 million metric tons of cement, a volume that exceeds by 5% the amount consumed in the same period in 2017.
According to figures from the Dominican Association of Producers of Portland Cement, the 2,196,282 metric tons consumed in the country during the first six months of the year, add up to an approximate amount of $196 million.
The company Argos plans to invest $21 million in a new cement plant with capacity to produce up to 440,000 tons per year in Choloma, department of Cortés.
According to officials from Argos Honduras, the new plant will expand the company's total production capacity by 30%.
Seven companies are competing in a market which in the first semester of this year reported sales worth around $223 million.
Figures from the Dominican Association of Portland Cement Producers (Adocem) show that compared to the same semester in 2016 there was an increase of just 1.4% in sales reported by Cibao, Argos Dominicana, Cemex, Domicem, Andino, Santo Domingo and Panam.
With Nicaraguan and Costa Rican capital the company Concrenic has started operation of its third plant for the production of pipes, blocks and concrete boxes.
The precast concrete production plant started operating in September, at kilometer 47 of the old road to León. This plant joins the two operating in San Carlos, Managua, specializing in heavy structures such as beams and columns and prefabricated concrete.
The cement production plant that Plycem is to build on a 50,000 square meter site in Esparza, Puntarenas, will start operations in the first quarter of 2018.
The cement that will be manufactured at the plant will be of the Cementos Fortaleza brand, and part of its production will be sold locally.
"According to a press release, with the start-up of the new plant, the company will be able to self-supply the main raw material used in the manufacture of fibro-cement products."
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"]
A tender is being launched for the supply of 17 thousand cubic meters of hydraulic concrete, for works that will be carried out in Guatemala City.
Government Purchase Guatemala 6379133:
"Purchase of 8,678 m3of hydraulic concrete with resistance of 2.000, 3.000 and 4.000 psi, for works to be carried out by the management of works in different areas in Guatemala City."
Despite the lower dynamism in private construction, cement production increased by 4.8% in 2016, due to greater demand generated from public infrastructure projects.
An article in Revista Construir reports that "...Private sector Construction has been registering a decrease, cement production in Nicaragua has registered a growth, which has been driven mainly by the dynamism in public investment.In 2016the production of this material increased by 4.8% compared to 2015.According to the Index of the Volume of Industrial Goods, published by the Central Bank of Nicaragua, cement production reached 314.2 points in 2016, higher than the 302.4 points it averaged the previous year."
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 plant that Mexico's Cemex operates in Escuintla will increase its production capacity by 10%, reaching 545 thousand tons a year.
In addition to the increased production capacity, with the improvements made to the plant, capacity for bagging cement will rise by 46%, going from 65 to 95 tons per hour.