With Bolivia’s cement market growing by double digits in recent years, cement producers have invested in extending their production capacities. One such company is Coboce which has added a second production line to its Irpa Irpa cement works in Cochabamba, Bolivia, reflecting the cement maker’s continued drive for growth. By Javier Ramallo Rocha, Coboce, Bolivia.
Last year, Bolivia’s cement demand reached 3.3Mta, continuing the double-digit upward trend witnessed for most years since the turn of the century. For 2014, local cement producers expect further expansion in market growth of 6-10 per cent.
Recognising this strong domestic demand growth potential, in 2007 Coboce decided to add a second production line to its Irpa Irpa cement plant. This would be the second time the Cochabamba-based works would undergo significant expansion, having being upgraded in 1993 with a new five-stage preheater and Fuller separate-line calciner which increased capacity to 0.3Mta. The company had previously operated a 0.1Mta dry-process line supplied by Italimpianti since the launch of operations in 1972.
