Portuguese cement producer Cimpor has set up holding company Cimpor Inversiones to manage the group’s holdings in companies outside Portugal. Cimpor Inversiones will operate from the Spanish city of Vigo, in the Spanish autonomous region of Galicia. Cimpor, which records annual turnover of 1.36bn euros, trades in eight countries, including Mozambique, Tunisia, South Africa, Brazil and Spain.
Spain is a key market for the cement sector thanks to the boom enjoyed by the property market and the government’s heavy investments in infrastructure development projects. Cimpor entered the Spanish market back in 1992 through the acquisition of Galicia-based company Corporacion Noroeste and it currently operates four cement production plants in this country, where it also holds stakes in counterparts Cementos Lemona (20 per cent) and Cementos de Antequera (21 per cent). Spain accounts for 22 per cent of the group’s sales, but Cimpor believes that cement consumption in the Spanish market will start to slow down within three years, so it is looking to expand in other countries, including plans to enter Angola, Libya and India.
