Mexican, Guatemalan cement firms racing to control CentAm market

The Central American cement market is undergoing some shifts this year, as at least two big players are looking to build up their presence in the region. 

Guatemalan company Cementos Progreso recently consolidated its expansion in Costa Rica and El Salvador, while Mexico's Elementia is seeking to strengthen its operations in El Salvador by investing US$40mn in a new plant.

Progreso

At the end of last year, Cementos Progreso announced that it was acquiring Cementos Mexicanos’ (Cemex) operations in El Salvador and Costa Rica. 

The US$335mn deal involves a cement plant, a mill, seven ready-mix concrete plants, an aggregate quarry and a distribution center in each country. 

The Guatemalan company’s CEO, José Raúl González Merlo, said on Monday that the purchase has been completed, according to Bloomberg Línea. 

"With this [acquisition] we will have operations in seven countries," he said. 

The countries in which Cementos Progreso currently has operations are Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia. In four of those the company started operations in the last three years. 

In July, the company inaugurated its new US$8.2mn plant in Belize, which has the capacity to produce 100,000t/y of cement.

Elementia 

Mexico City-based Elementia, meanwhile, is also aiming to expand its operations in Central America with a US$40mn investment to build a new plant in El Salvador. 

The new plant will produce 300,000t/y of cement and will begin operations in the first quarter of 2023, according to company CEO Jaime Rocha Font.  

"It will be built in El Salvador because of its strategic location in Central America, accessibility to key ports, positive environment to receive foreign investment and characteristics of a market that has a growing demand for cement," he was quoted as saying by Bloomberg Línea last week.

The main shareholders in Elementia are Grupo Empresarial Kaluz and Condumex, the latter of which is indirectly controlled by Grupo Carso. Grupo Kaluz, meanwhile, is a conglomerate of industrial and petrochemical companies, including Orbia Advance Corporation, which was formerly known as Mexichem.