Cementos Mexicanos (Cemex) is eager to expand in the Colombian market where the company has already invested more than US$1bn, reported an insider.

The communication manager of Cemex in Colombia, María Clara Avilán, explained to news agency Notimex that the Mexican firm has been in Colombia for seven years now and "is very interested in continuing with its expansion" in the country.

"In the cement segment, we have a production capacity that allows us to continue growing much more and in the concrete division, we have done very important things," stated Avilán.

Cemex’s products have been used in some of Colombia’s most important infrastructure projects, such as in the viaduct that reaches the central city of Pereira. The Mexican firm is currently involved in the construction of the Barranca-Yondó bridge in the northeast of the country.

The official added that the company "has total confidence in Colombia.  It has a stable democracy that receives foreign investments well ..."

Cemex set up shop in Colombia in 1996 after acquiring and later restructuring Colombian cement firms that were facing financial ruin. The Mexican firm produces 2.8 per cent of its total production in Colombia.