Early September saw about 250 delegates from international cement companies and equipment suppliers meet at the Hotel Marriott in San José, Costa Rica, for the 29th annual FICEM-APCAC Technical Congress to hear over 50 presentations. Despite being briefly rattled by the country’s most severe earthquake in 20 years, the event generally proceeded without a hitch.
The sessions, which took place between 2-6 September 2012, began with a speech by Gabriel Restrepo, FICEM board president. He explained that FICEM encompasses all of Latin America, plus Spain and Portugal, representing 146Mta of cement production, 74 companies, and 246 plants, of which 178 are in South America and 41 in Iberia. FICEM’s cement markets are rapidly growing with large infrastructure needs, he noted.
