To Promote The Development Of Southern Mexico
By Mauro Nogarin
According to the United States Chamber of Commerce, Yucatán is the best state in Mexico to invest, because legal certainty, energy sustainability, security and investment in infrastructure are the key points to attracting foreign investors.
The national GDP of Mexico at the end of 2021 registered a recovery of 4.6%, compared to the same period of the previous year, and for its part, the production of the construction sector during 2021 showed a recovery of 7.2%.
This result is largely due to the infrastructure works that have become a priority for the federal government and for the country’s most important cities, including the construction of large projects such as the Santa Lucía airport, inaugurated in March; the Mayan Train; the Oaxaca-Puerto Escondido highway; the Mexico-Toluca interurban train; and the Iztapalapa Elevated Trolleybus.
Regarding cement production, according to data from the Mexican Chamber of Construction (CMIC), the variation between the first quarter of 2022 compared to the first quarter of 2021, also registered a significant positive change of 8.9%.
This significant increase in cement was also possible thanks to the construction of Holcim Mexico’s Umán, Yucatán plant, one of the most modern plants in terms of innovation and sustainable technology. With an investment of more than $40 million, the southeastern region of Mexico now has the cement production capacity for the construction of bridges, highways, housing and infrastructure projects such as the Mayan Train and Petroleos Mexicanos’ Dos Bocas Refinery.
The Umán plant is one of the most modern and efficient facilities of its kind thanks to the use of high-tech equipment with low consumption of water and electricity, in addition to having high-level control technologies and process control systems that allow remote operation.
The new industrial operation obtains its clinker supply from plants located in Macuspana, Tabasco and Orizaba, Veracruz to produce cement in Yucatan and has the highest sustainability standards for the well-being of local communities and the environment.
With the Umán plant, Holcim Mexico operates nationwide through its seven cement plants and a grinding plant with a production capacity of 13.3 million tpy, 37 cement distribution centers, more than 50 ready-mix concrete plants, and seven Geocycle platforms.
The new structure has two raw material reception areas: the first for clinker, which is transported by train or truck, and the second is for gypsum and limestone. Both have a 3,500-ton raw material storage area and a clinker silo, while the two additional 500-ton silos are for limestone and gypsum storage.
In the feed hopper building where the ideal mix is prepared to be fed, a cement mill with a capacity of 650,000 tpy (Cpc 30 and Cpc 40 of high resistance) was installed.
The plant also has two cement silos for a total of 2,000 tons, one for bulk dispatch and the other for packaging in 50-kg bags.
The packaging machine has a capacity of 90 tph and has six nozzles that can fill 1,800 bags per hour that are successively placed on the pallets by means of the palletizer.
In general, around 1,800 tons of machinery and around 1,500 tons of metallic structure were assembled for the new cement plant, where 90% of the machinery comes from Europe and 10% from other countries.
It is important to note that, as a result of the construction of the new plant in Umán, Holcim Mexico has also announced the acquisition of the goods and operations of the distribution company Concreto del Caribe S., the main supplier of ready-mix concrete for the markets of Cancún, Playa del Carmen, Isla Blanca and Tulum.
The four ready-mix plants are made up of 32 mixer trucks and five pumps that together offer an installed capacity of 17,000 cu. meters to produce and deliver concrete in the four plants located along the Cancun-Tulum corridor.
With this investment, Holcim Mexico increases its presence in the markets of the southeastern region of the country, advancing to guarantee its expansion in the country, by increasing its production and distribution capacity of its products, in order to accompany the economic and social growth of the communities. nearby through new sources of work.
Mauro Nogarin is Cement Products’ Latin American correspondent.
