Caribbean Cement Co dispatches clinker to Venezuela

Caribbean Cement Company sent its first clinker consignment to Corporación Socialista del Cemento in Venezuela yesterday.

The Government had signed off on the clinker deal back in September, but export was delayed as Venezuela had not yet signed all the necessary approvals. The shipment followed months of negotiations with Venezuela, the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining said.

However, the Caribbean Cement Company said that "this development has tremendous implications for other industries and for Jamaican exports".

The shipment is the first to make use of the trade compensation mechanism of the PetroCaribe agreement, which allows Jamaica to settle part of its oil debt through exports. It is through the PetroCaribe agreement that Jamaica receives petroleum products from Venezuela at a preferential rate with a defined payment plan. Jamaica needs to service payments each month.

Under the arrangement, Jamaica pays Venezuela for 60 per cent of the cost of the oil it receives and the remainder is set aside as a loan, payable over 20 years at an interest rate of one per cent.