Cementos Argos has found the Panama Canal expansion project to be a lucrative venture. The Colombian cement and concrete producer has been supplying materials for the construction of major infrastructure on the canal and connect schemes since 2009. Argos’ Panamanian subsidiary earns 30 per cent of its revenues from the expansion at present with the canal offering sales of 700,000Mta of cement up to next year.
In addition, the Colombian company is providing concrete to the Aeropuerto Internacional de Tocumen and cement for a first (14km) tranche of the Panama Metro. To meet this demand, Argos has invested U$140m locally, since 2009, in doubling production capacity to reach 1.4Mta of cement. Current concrete production capacity stands at 600,000Mm3.
Enrique Tomas Olarte, the Argos director in Panama, explains that there are other big infrastructure projects underway or on the horizon nationally, including a third bridge over the canal, water-sanitation schemes in the bay of Panama City, new hydroelectric complexes in the country’s Interior, the Panama-Pacifico urban development scheme and social-housing construction.
