TRINIDAD & TOBAGO: Carib Cement Boss To Be Replaced

General manager of Caribbean Cement Company Limited Anthony Haynes is to demit office, Wednesday Business has learnt.

It's understood that Haynes, a Trinidadian, is to be replaced by a Mexican executive.

When contacted, Chairman of Caribbean Cement Christopher Dehring said he could neither confirm nor deny whether the Haynes is being replaced and instead referredWednesday Business to parent company Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL).

"I think what you have to do is to speak with the company directly. I am not close enough to the (issue). There is an operational protocol, so I am sure the company would be happy to talk to you in due course," Dehring said.

Two weeks ago, Trinidad Cement announced that under a rights issue, minority shareholder Sierra Trading, a subsidiary of construction giant Cemex of Mexico, had increased its ownership of TCL from 20 per cent to 39.5 per cent. Although Sierra and TCL struck an agreement that the former would not acquire more than 40 per cent of TCL, questions continue to be raised in Trinidad about a potential takeover by Cemex.

Dehring said that as Caribbean Cement is part of a wider operation "whatever the group executive is working out with regards to any statement to do with operations, I much prefer it come from the company itself rather than the board members speaking out about any operational aspect of the company".

Wednesday Business further sought clarification from the CEO of Trinidad Cement, Alejandro A. Ramirez Cantu, but was told a representative would return the call at a later date.

Haynes did not return calls for comment up to press time.

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO: Cemex aumentará su participación en TCL

Después de que el pasado lunes el Consejo de Administración de la cementera de Trinidad y Tobago, Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL), eliminaron el candado que impedía que un accionista tuviera una participación mayor al 20 por ciento en la compañía, quedó el camino libre para que Cemex incremente su propiedad sobre la compañía

Mientras que por un lado la firma regiomontana Cemex inició en Europa su estrategia de desinversión de activos por hasta mil 500 millones de dólares anunciada hace unos días, por el otro, una de sus subsidiarias en Trinidad y Tobago busca incrementar hasta un 40 por ciento su participación en la cementera Trinidad Cement Limited (TLC).

Durante la conferencia telefónica que sostuvo con analistas para explicar los resultados del cuarto trimestre del año pasado, Fernando González Olivieri, director general de Cemex, señaló que como parte de sus acciones para recuperar el grado de inversión estaría la desinversión en activos por hasta mil 500 millones de dólares.

La semana pasada, el directivo dijo que Cemex podría vender parte de sus activos en el norte de Europa, el Mediterráneo y Asia, y la mitad de los recursos que obtenga los destinará al pago de deuda.

Además, González Olivieri dijo que podrían vender entre un 5 y 10 por ciento más de la subsidiaria Cemex Latam Holdings para levantar recursos.

Pero por otro lado, Cemex ha llegado a un acuerdo con el Consejo de Trinidad Cement Limited (TLC) que permitirá a la empresa mexicana aumentar su participación en esta empresa a por lo menos 35 por ciento, con la opción de añadir otro cinco por ciento, publicó el sitio jamaica-gleaner.com.

El pasado lunes, TCL señaló que obtuvo la aprobación para eliminar una restricción que limitaba la participación de accionistas a un 20 por ciento como máximo, por lo que firmó un acuerdo de suscripción con Sierra Trading, filial de Cemex, para que ésta aumente su porcentaje accionario, señaló el sitio guardian.co.tt.

La cementera regiomontana posee actualmente el 20 por ciento de TCL a través de Sierra Trading y se ha comprometido a no buscar una participación más allá del 40 por ciento de la empresa en virtud de un acuerdo establecido

Bajo el acuerdo alcanzado con el Consejo de TCL de 10 miembros, en la que Cemex tiene ahora al menos tres representantes, la empresa mexicana suscribirá hasta 45 millones de dólares de la ampliación de capital, que tiene contempla la cementera trinitaria por hasta 57 millones de dólares

TCL ha acordado conceder un derecho exclusivo a Sierra de suscribir y comprar las acciones en el tema de derechos que no sean asumidas por los accionistas. Sin embargo, con la cantidad adquirida Sierra no debe detentar más del 40 por ciento de la cementera.

Si después de lo anterior Sierra no ha logrado al menos el 35 por ciento de participación en TCL, la empresa hará una colocación privada de acciones.

La empresa cementera se está embarcando en un plan integral de reestructuración destinado a preservar sus operaciones y asegurar su viabilidad a largo plazo.

A finales del año pasado, la compañía detuvo todos los pagos de sus compromisos financieros en virtud de un acuerdo sobre la deuda alcanzado con grandes acreedores al no poder hacer frente a los mil 700 millones de dólares en deuda a corto plazo.

Keith Rowley, líder de la oposición, hizo un llamado al gobierno para mantener a TCL en manos nacionales.

TRINIDAD: Cement price to go up by $5 from today

The price increase was disclosed by Trinidad Cement Ltd (TCL) whose customers can expect to pay around $5 more per bag.

The company stated: “TCL Premium Plus, which accounts for 95 per cent of local market share, will be adjusted by nine per cent, which is equal to a five cent increase per pound from $.53 to $.58 VAT inclusive. Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), which is used by approximately five per cent of the market, will move by 15 per cent.”

This means the average price ($60 for a bag of cement) will go up at least $5. Hardware owners and contractors have already been informed of the increase by TCL.

TCL stated: “These price movements have resulted from continual increases in major cost components over the past 18 months, but more so, over the past six months, when there has been a steady rise in the price of equipment spares, raw materials, freight rates and supplier services.”

It said the entire local construction industry was facing increased costing in building materials and the last time the company’s cement price was adjusted was on January 2, 2013. A commitment was made then to not make any changes for 12 months.

The company stated: “In recognition of the fact that cement is a major element of local and regional economic growth, TCL has kept the adjustments to a minimum and is pleased to state, that its prices still remain close to the lower end of the tier when compared in a global context. Independent studies by Quantity Surveyors have confirmed the total cost of cement in a standard dwelling house is just five per cent of overall construction material cost.”

TCL stated that as is customary, all contractors registered with the Trinidad and Tobago Contractors’ Association (TTCA) will be offered a three-month waiver of the new price for fixed price contracts with their clients.

n An official with a major construction company in Chaguanas said the increase in prices of cement may result in less work being done privately, and some contracts may be fixed so contractors would be operating at a loss. He also said since cement was used to make concrete blocks, increased prices in those were also expected.

The official said: “With the construction sector and with people building their own houses, it is going to be a bit hard with the cement prices going up. It will be a bigger expense to the contractor and the people who have houses to build.”

However he added: “People would spend their money if they have a project going on. It may slow down the private sector but as for contractors, the job has to be completed no matter what.”

TRINIDAD: TCL set to enter oil well cement market

Trinidad Cement Ltd (TCL), which is celebrating its 60th anniversary, is preparing to break into the global oil well cement market. Chairman Satnarine Bachew told reporters the company has plans for expansion of its markets and aiming at the oil well cement market. Oil well cement is used in the oil and gas industry to case oil wells and keep them in place. Bachew said TCL has been selling oil well cement on the local market for years and has now decided to offer the product on the international market.

“Halliburton has been our main customer up to now and they have tested our product from depths of up to 18,000 feet without any issues. We are very confident that we can break through on the external market,” Bachew said when he spoke with reporters after an interfaith service to celebrate TCL’s 60th anniversary at its Claxton Bay headquarters 

Bachew explained that oil well cement is manufactured under special conditions but TCL does not need to purchase any special equipment to produce oit since it has been manufacturing the product for the last 15 years. “It is about proper promoting of our product and lobbying at the correct places and getting involved in the process. We already know how to manufacture the product, we have the expertise, we have been tried and tested by Halliburton and we think we are ready to move on to the global stage,” he said.

Bachew said TCL also plans to increase its presence in Central America “where the real strong markets are right now”. “We are already in those countries and the intention is to continue to grow and expand in those countries and may be acquire a new cement plant, who knows. That is our thrust,” he explained. 

Labour Minister Errol McLeod, who delivered the feature address at the interfaith service, recounted his interactions with TCL’s management when he was president general of the Oilfields Workers Trade Union (OWTU). He said he shared a “special friendship” with former chairmen of the company. McLeod urged TCL’s employees and management to work together with a common purpose. He said the company has endured many challenges over the years, including a brutal 92 day strike in 2012, and now it is time for healing.

“Emulate love and respect, restraint and forgiveness and you know what I am talking about. Let it be about community and purpose. I recommend these very commanding principles which will take you beyond the four score,”he said. Representatives of the Islamic, Hindu and Christian faiths offered prayers and blessings for TCL’s continued success and urged employees and management to work together.

Bachew said following the 2012 strike, TCL embarked on a series of healing programmes addressing health, happiness and harmony. “There have been several interventions. We have made some progress. We are not where we would like to be as yet and as you know quite a bit of trade disputes are coming up in the Industrial Court.” He said he believes that once those disputes are out of the way, there will be “a better path for us to really get down into healing process”. 

“We have improved the productivity. It is better. It is back to where it was pre-strike last year,” said Bachew. who described 2013 as one of TCL’s better years.

TRINIDAD: Cement prices to go down

Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL) general manager, Satnarine Bachew, announced yesterday that the temporary surcharge imposed on bagged cement has been removed.

And cement prices are expected to go down in the coming weeks, he said.

Bachew said a 42.5 kilogramme bag of cement was increased by $13 during the recent industrial relations impasse. He said the company was forced to increase prices two weeks after workers began strike action on February 27.

"The additional charge was driven by the higher cost of satisfying the local cement demand due to extenuating circumstances created by the strike (among these, the importation of cement and clinker, an intermediate product in the manufacture of cement) from other TCL Group operations in Barbados and Jamaica, administrative and other logistical challenges," he stated in a release yesterday.

Bachew said cement prices are expected to revert to "pre-strike prices". Cement retailed at $49.50 to $54.50 per 42.5 kilogramme bag of TCL Premium Plus before the strike.

Bachew said the company's production was back to full capacity, removing dependency on imported product and clinker.

"There have been significant operational and financial setbacks from which we are still recovering, however, we indicated that our ex-factory prices would revert by end of July and therefore, we are duty bound to honour our word within the specified timeframe," he stated.

Bachew said, however, that the company will be reviewing its pricing regime in the 4th quarter of 2012. TCL thanked its loyal customers, shareholders, investors, employees and other stakeholders for their understanding and support during a "very challenging period" in the company's history.

TCL began importing bagged cement from its subsidiaries in Jamaica and Barbados, after the Oilfields' Workers Trade Union (OWTU) served strike notice following a breakdown in negotiations. The strike ended 92 days later after the OWTU requested that the matter be referred to the Industrial Court.

Cement prices ranged from $60 to $69 at hardwares polled by the Express yesterday.

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO:More cement coming as workers take contracts

Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL) plans to increase its production of cement over the next few weeks as they expect more workers to break the picket line and accept individual contracts. So said TCL's production manager, Keith Ramjitsingh, as he took the media on a tour of the mill circuit and roller press plants at the Claxton Bay factory yesterday.

Ramjitsingh said TCL was putting strategies in place to satisfy its bulk and retail sack markets. On a regular basis, he explained, the miller and roller press plant can produce 3,000 tonnes of cement daily. Currently, the plant is operating on an eight hour basis. “What we did yesterday in six hours was to produce 370 tonnes of cement. That equates close to 60 tonnes per hour. The good news is that is one of the highest production capacity per hour we have ever gotten on the roller press since the plant was commissioned. That was an excellent effort on behalf of people who worked,” Ramjitsingh said.

If production continues, he said, TCL would be able to satisfy the bulk market. “This markets requires about 4,000 tonnes of cement per week and we are doing 480 tonnes daily in one shift. At this capacity we will satisfy the bulk market. “The plan is that we will eventually do two shifts on the roller press mode. That will give us 6000 tonnes per week and will surpass what is required for the bulk market. Therefore plan B will kick in, where we will start packing some of these cement through the sack packing plant.”

Ramjitsingh said the Mayo plant has not re-started because TCL does not require slurry (raw material) at this time. At present the plant has a stock pile of 25,000 tonnes of clinker to manufacture the cement. “This stockpile of 25,000 tonnes of clinker will give us 35,000 tonnes of cement. If we do over 3,000 tonnes of cement per week, at this present single shift, it will last about 10 weeks. Importation will be a backup plan,” he said.

He added that TCL is not breaking any safety rules because the people who are running the plants now are highly trained. General Manager Satnarine Bachew urged consumers to exercise care when purchasing cement since some hardware dealers were continuing to hoard cement and sell it at black market prices.

Bachew said cement was being imported from Jamaica and Barbados to service the retail markets so there is sufficient cement to satisfy local demands. He said it was unlikely, given the economic slowdown, that TCL would provide more than a 6.5 per cent increase to workers since labour costs account for of 32 per cent of the company’s expenditure and workers are already earning high salaries. Bachew said a labourer at TCL earns more than $13,000 monthly.

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO: Cement selling at $100 a bag on black market

Some hardware owners have started selling cement at black market prices, even as local producer Trinidad Cement Ltd (TCL) has begun distributing cement imported from Jamaica and Barbados to plug the shortage caused by a strike by workers, a TCL official said yesterday.

TCL general manager Satnarine Bachew said customers could expect to pay a small increase in cement prices, but nowhere near what he said was a 100 per cent increase in prices being asked by some hardware dealers.

Bachew said yesterday: “We are currently off-loading the first shipment and some hardwares are collecting already. We have another shipment coming in tomorrow. Next week from Monday other shipments are coming in. About 23,000 tonnes of cement will be coming into the island.” 

Bachew said: “People are black-marketing it already at $100 a bag. I am are not sure exactly where the hardware is going to take this because the normal price of cement retail is between $45 to $50 and hardwares have jumped that to $100. And we have not increased the price.”

Bachew said the only additional cost would be the warehousing cost on the imported cement and handling charges.

“It should just be a small increase,” he said.

He said TCL will inform dealers of the location and time to collect their cement supply in order to prevent any rush. 

The Express was told by one company involved in concrete products that prices had increased by as much as $10 a bag.

Checks with several hardwares across the country including Arima, Chaguanas, Tacarigua, Couva, Marabella, Penal, Fyzabad and Debe found all were without a supply of cement.

One hardware dealer at Southern Main Road, Enterprise, said he expected to get a supply next week. 

“Our regular price is $60 but when we get, it will go for between $70-$75,” he said.

Another dealer at Fyzabad said the regular price was $50 a bag but this would be increasing to $60 when a supply comes in next Tuesday. 

A Couva dealer said yesterday: “Our normal price is $55 but when we get, it will go for about $65.”