Cemex-Egypt has recently launched a new subsidiary that will specialize in the manufacturing of ready-mixed concrete. The new Cemex Ready Mix company was set up with initial investments totaling 30 million Egyptian Pounds ($6.5 million), reported Al-Alam Al-Yaum.
Cemex Ready Mix’s production complexes will be located in Al-Obour, Kattameya and Abu Rawash. Each facility’s production capacity is expected to reach 105 cubic meters per hour.
The only multinational producer in the local market, CEMEX has been present in Egypt since early 1999, through its trading activity with the floating silo Corrigedora, moored in Suez, and its joint venture with an Egyptian importer in a shore silo located in Damietta Port.
In November 1999, CEMEX acquired 77 percent of Assiut Cement. Another 13 percent was sold by the Holding Company that owned Assiut Cement to CEMEX in June 2000. The employees’ union kept the remaining 10-percent stake, five percent of which was recently purchased by CEMEX.
While Assiut Cement had an original production capacity of four million metric tons a year, in 2001 CEMEX increased that figure to 4.5 million metric tons per year, and by mid 2002 Assiut Cement had a total production capacity of five million metric ton/year.
After acquiring Assiut Cement, CEMEX initiated a Post Merger Integration (PMI) program aimed at restructuring the work force and upgrading the production facilities. As a result, the workforce has been reduced from 3,700 to slightly over 1,100 through a $40-million early retirement scheme. The company has increased its customer base from 80 prior to the privatization of Assiut Cement to over 500 at the present.
Founded in 1906, CEMEX is one of the three largest cement companies in the world, with approximately 65 million metric tons of production capacity per year. Through operating subsidiaries positioned in four different continents, CEMEX is engaged in the production, distribution, marketing, and sale of cement, ready-mix concrete, aggregates and clinker. In addition, CEMEX is the world's leading producer of white cement and the world's largest trader of cement and clinker.
CEMEX is headquartered in Houston, Texas and employs approximately 5,000 people nationwide. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
