Latin American Report: Guatemala

Two New Plants And A New Acquisition To Boost The Country’s Cement Industry.

By Mauro Nogarin

According to data from the Cement and Concrete Institute of Guatemala (ICCG), the national annual demand for cement in Guatemala is currently at 5.5 million tons, the highest average in Central America and continues to grow.

Going from 2.71 million tons in 2017 to 2.9 million in 2019, it successively reached 3.35 million in 2020, 4.13 million in 2021 and 4.9 million tons in 2022, a production that covered 80% of the Guatemalan market. And as of October 2022, the process of integrating the operations acquired in Costa Rica and El Salvador began.

For this reason, some companies are investing both in the supply of cement and also in the more elaborate products that the construction companies themselves demand. Swiss multinational Holcim recently signed an agreement to buy Cemex assets in Guatemala, which include a grinding plant with a capacity to process up to 600,000 metric tons of cement per year.

Meanwhile, the largest company in the country, Progreso Cementos, invested $15 million to expand its plant in San Miguel, and Ultracem recently started up a new cement plant in Puerto San José.

Ultracem

Ultracem, a Colombian-based company with a long history in this sector and which also operates in Honduras and Panama, inaugurated the new production plant in Puerto San José, Escuintla, in September. It is located very close to Puerto Quetzal.

The company invested around $40 million into the operation for the production of local cement and processing imported raw materials. For the project, the Spanish company Ingenova carried out the detailed civil and structural engineering of the cement grinding plant.

The grinding plant is made up of a 400-sq.-meter building with a height of 30 meters. The primary filters were installed on the main floor, the process equipment on the second floor, and the Christian Pfeiffer horizontal mill was installed in the structure adjacent to the building, along with the fan and chimney of the main filter.

The plant has a capacity of 350,000 tpy, and a logistics system that can ship cement to any region of the country, and a portfolio of products for both general and structural use cements.

With this project, Ultracem Guatemala is generating approximately 150 direct jobs and about 250 indirect jobs, and 100% of the staff is local.

“With this investment, we reaffirm our commitment to quality and sustainability, promoting clean and environmentally friendly production. Likewise, this initiative will generate economic growth and social development for local communities,” said the CEO of Ultracem Colombia in a statement.

Cemento Progreso

The second project was carried out by the company Cemento Progreso with a new pre-dosed plant, located within the San Miguel plant in Sanarate. The project had an investment of $16 million, as part of the company’s growth and diversification strategy.

Construction of the project began in November 2021. The plant is designed for the manufacture of coatings (monolayers), lifting mixtures and other specialized products for the construction industry.

The pre-dosed plant incorporates FLSmidth technology that implements an automated process, operated from a control room by means of state-of-the-art PLCs (operable logic controllers), along with advanced instrumentation to monitor all operating variables.

The automated dosing and mixing system doses and mixes up to 84 crucibles in just three minutes; the combined dosing and mixing capabilities of this machine speed up sample processing and free up operators to perform other important tasks.

The plant was designed to optimize the supply chain and meet growing market demand; this facility will allow Progreso to continue responding quickly and effectively to the changing needs of customers in Guatemala and the region.

In addition, the first production line has a capacity of 370,000 tpy, which will allow it to better meet market demand. It has the capacity to pack 3,000 bags per hour.

The “Mezclas Listas Mixto Listo” brand is made up of a family of products including specialized finishes, concrete, lifting mixes and soil stabilizers.

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