Bank of America to arrange investor meetings for Cimento Tupi, Brazil

Brazilian cement producer, Cimento Tupi has enlisted Bank of America Corp to arrange meetings with bond investors as the company looks to expand cement capacity in its thriving domestic market.

Bloomberg reported that the meetings are scheduled to run from 23-25 January in Europe and the US, a source close to the situation said.

In May 2011, the company sold a US$100m bond with a seven-year maturity overseas, below the initial target of US$100m. The debt, which is callable in 2015, carries a coupon of 9.75 per cent, AE Brazil Newswire reported at that time.

The bond got B ratings from both S&P and Fitch.

Cimento Tupi is investing US$150m to expand its clinker capacity to 2.3Mta from 1.1Mta at its Pedra do Sino plant, which is close to its strategic limestone reserves in Minas Gerais. Additional clinker production would replace slag in cement production.

With these investments, which also include expanding packaging capacity, Cimento Tupi expects to expand its cement capacity to about 3.2Mta by 2013 from 2.4Mt in 2010.