Caribbean Cement to pay 2% royalty fees to Cemex

Following shareholder approval Caribbean CementCo Ltd will pay two per cent royalties to its parent company Cemex from January 2022. The agreed fee is equivalent to two per cent of net sales, half of the cap initially telegraphed to shareholders. 

Caribbean Cement said in a statement that since 2017, when Cemex assumed majority control of Caribbean Cement, the plant at Rockfort has relied on Cemex's global expertise, including its safety management systems that resulted in the reduction of lost-time worker injuries from nine incidents to zero last year. It also touted low COVID-19 infection rates, 38,000h of training, consultations with 130 multidisciplinary experts over the five years as well as a 28 per cent increase in cement production due to improved operational efficiencies. In addition the company enjoyed a swing from losses to profits and debt reforms that have reduced long term borrowings from US$12bn in 2017 to US$560m as at September 2021.

"With this turnaround largely complete, CCCL is now in a position where we can formalise the relationship between the company and its parent," said Caribbean Cement, under a services and intellectual property agreement to compensate Cemex for the future use of its trademarks and financial and operational expertise.