Paraguayan companies import increasing cement volumes

Several companies in Paraguay have increased the volume of cement imports from 1000tpm to 6000tpd due to the cement supply shortage in the Latin American country, according to ABC Color.

Cement imports increased from 25,000t to 45,000t between July and November 2019, said a recent report from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce. However, in October and November companies doubled the volume of their purchases, said the Paraguayan news outlet.

For example, Hierropar reportedly is importing large volumes of cement from the Hercules brand of LafargeHolcim’s Jujuy plant in Argentina. “Today (yesterday) 22,000 bags of cement arrived. The lack of the product leads us to import, with all that implies, such as investment and logistics. The freight leaves us US$1600 per load (about 560 bags) and we sell between PYG46,000 (US$7.12) and PYG48,000 per bag,” said Magda Cuenca de Ruiz of Hierropar,

Intermix, which imports cement from Uruguay, increased its volumes from 3000t to 6000t two months ago, said the company’s spokesperson Luis Verón. "We always import but in this last month we had to increase the volume due to the need in the market," said Mr Verón. He indicated that "in quantity" they are selling to PYG44,500 and PYG45,000/bag.