Cimpor adopts strategies to reduce costs

The Portuguese cement company Cimpor, part of the Camargo Correa group, is adopting a series of strategies to reduce costs in Brazil. The company, managed by InterCement Holding, is selling buildings; land and concrete production centres; suspending operations in factories; stopping older cement furnaces, and substituting materials. Cimpor has stopped milling in its plants in the Suape region of Pernambuco state and in Jacarei, São Paulo state. These actions are an attempt to compensate for a 15.8%
Quarry Products / January 12, 2016

The Portuguese cement company 1347 Cimpor, part of the 3718 Camargo Correa group, is adopting a series of strategies to reduce costs in Brazil.

The company, managed by InterCement Holding, is selling buildings; land and concrete production centres; suspending operations in factories; stopping older cement furnaces, and substituting materials.

Cimpor has stopped milling in its plants in the Suape region of Pernambuco state and in Jacarei, São Paulo state.

These actions are an attempt to compensate for a 15.8% drop in sales recorded by Cimpor in the first nine months of 2015 in Brazil compared to the same period in 2014, reaching 8.1 million tonnes.

Revenue generated by operations in Brazil dropped 24% in the same comparison, reaching €680.70 million (US$743.50 million).

This performance is said to be a result of a drop in demand in the north-east region of Brazil, combined with the arrival of new companies to the market, such as Brennand and Elizabeth.

In 2015, Cimpor also sold two quarries to Polimix for BRL 100 million and 16% of its stake in Paraguayan company Cimento Yguazu for US$35 million to its local partner.

The company is also promoting changes in its financial structure to gain more operational efficiency, productivity and profitability. These changes will go on until 2024 and involves all of Cimpor's 40 plants spread across the globe.

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