12/06/2007 14h54

Holcim to invest US$ 241.6 million in Brazil

Valor Econômico - 12/06/2007

After suffering great losses in the last five years, Swiss Holcim, one of the great cement groups of the world, will start putting its chips back in Brazil. The head office has just approved an investment of R$ 430 million (US$ 241.6 million) for the modernization of the five plants it has in the country. The Swiss group also studies two other investments: one of R$ 300 million (US$ 168.5 million) to increase by 20% the productive capacity and another one of more than R$ 1.2 billion (US$ 674.2 million) for the construction of a sixth plant in the country. Holcim currently has five plants in the country, two in Minas Gerais (Pedro Leopoldo and Barroso), one in Rio de Janeiro (Cantagalo), one in the Espírito Santo (Vitória) and another in São Paulo (Sorocaba). Last month, the group reactivated the São Paulo plant, the first one it purchased in Brazil, in the decade of the 1950's, which had been shut down. For the time being, the Holcim group only operates in the Southeastern region. With a production of approximately 5 million tons, the Swiss group currently has 9% of the domestic market share. The group works with four trademarks': Ciminas, Barroso, Alvorada and Paraíso. According to the commercial officer, the goal is make the Holcim trademark stronger and better known in the domestic market.