South America cement manufacturing capacity passes 150 mtpy

The CW Group’s detailed, unit-by-unit analysis of cement production facilities in South America shows that the total nameplate cement manufacturing capacity reached over 150 million tons per year (mtpy) in 2010. Across the continent, there were close to 160 cement production facilities, about a quarter of which were cement grinding units, distributed across three sub-regions: the Andean region (36 percent of capacity on the continent), the Eastern region (51 percent) and the Southern Cone (13 percent).

The corporate leader in terms of manufacturing capacity was Brazil’s Votorantim Cimentos, which directly or indirectly influenced over 27 percent of the manufacturing capacity on the continent. Global cement majors Holcim (second largest in terms of capacity), Lafarge (fifth largest) and Cemex (seventh largest) controlled about 24 percent in total of the installed nameplate capacity. Camargo Correa occupied the second position in terms of capacity. Other leading cement manufacturers in the region include Cimpor and Cimentos Nassau.

Brazil is the single largest cement producing country on the continent, representing 51 percent of the total cement output potential. Colombia shares the second position in terms of manufacturing units with Argentina; both have 17 units, but the former has somewhat more production capacity.

The age and nature of the cement plant infrastructure varies across sub-regions, with average facility capacity ranging from 0.90 mtpy in the Southern Cone to 0.98 mtpy in the Eastern region. On a production line basis the Eastern region has the largest cement plants. White cement units are largely found in the Andean part of the continent with the slag cement units in the Eastern part.

The report is a first in that for the first time a single source details and segments all the integrated gray, integrated white, grinding stations and slag cement plants for all countries on the continent, providing details on principal cement type produced, plant capacity, number of production lines, ownership structure, and affiliation with global groups.

In conjunction with the release of the report, the CW Group also published a large-scale poster showing the geographic location and type of all cement units across South America. This industry-first is a new way of visualizing the supply-side in South America in a single, easy to understand format, and allows for a strategic understanding of the geographic profile of manufacturing units.

The report and poster are available directly from CW Group, by contacting us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . More information can be found from CemWeek's parent group, the CW Group at: http://www.cwgrp.com/research/industry-reports/305980-south-america-cement-facilities-review-2011-edition.html