Uruguay: Cimsa to work with Ancap on Cementos Charrúa project

Company Industrializadora de Minerales SA (CIMSA) wants to form an association with Ancap of Uruguay to receive clinker for its subsidiary Cementos Charrúa, to produce cement at the grinding unit being built in Montevideo. The product is mainly earmarked for export to Brazil.

Ancap operates a kiln line in Treinta y Tres, via its subsidiary Cementos de Plata, and will supply clinker to the new Montevideo grinding unit, while Cementos Charrúa completes its kiln line at Treinta y Tres. To date the Montevideo project has seen investment of US$35m, but it is expected that this figure will rise to US$80m.

Ancap also operates a clinker plant in Minas Gerais, Brazil, but reported a US$25m loss this year. The Uruguayan cement producer will look to provide extra clinker supplies to Cementos Charrúa to help it become a more profitable business under a formal arrangement.  "We look for complementarity with Ancap in a public-private partnership that will serve the country," said a Cimsa representative.