smeagol
04-04-2008, 08:36 AM
Chavez Plans to Nationalize Venezuela Cement Industry
By Brian McGee and Steven Bodzin
April 4 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said he plans to seize cement operations in the country, threatening the assets of the nation's largest producer, Cemex SAB of Mexico.
``Starting from now, all legal and economic measures should be taken to nationalize the national cement industry in the short term,'' Chavez said in a communications ministry statement.
The move would also affect Lafarge SA of France and Holcim Ltd. of Switzerland. Many cement companies are polluting the environment and have failed to invest in new technology, Chavez said. The state will pay the plant owners ``whatever it costs'' and invest in the modernization of factories, he said.
Chavez has given pro-nationalization speeches to draw on popular Venezuelan opposition to state asset sales to foreign companies in the 1990s. Last year, the state took over four heavy crude oil joint ventures as well as the nation's biggest electricity provider and telephone company. Seizing Total SA's stake in a project cost Venezuela $834 million in oil shipments.
The Venezuelan leader said he would ban asphalt exports and is restricting shipments of food abroad, all part of his effort to overcome shortages amid the fastest economic growth in the Americas. Chavez has accused building-material suppliers of running a monopoly and slowing the construction of homes and roads.
Serious Threat
Cemex is the largest domestic supplier of cement and ready-mix concrete in Venezuela, with annual cement production capacity of 4.6 million tons and 33 ready-mix plans, according to its Web site.
Holcim, the world's second-largest cement maker, is taking the threat ``seriously,'' spokesman Peter Gysel said in a phone interview today. The Swiss company operates two cement plants in Venezuela, one in San Sebastian and another in the Cumarebo region. Together, the factories produce 2.4 million tons and employ more than 500 people.
``We don't know any more than others,'' said Holcim's Gysel. ``We have to wait to see what happens. He said it already several times in the past.''
Lafarge spokeswoman Lucy Saint-Antonin declined to comment on the threat when contacted by Bloomberg today. The French company generates 90 million euros ($141 million) in revenue from Venezuelan operations. Its two plants have the capacity to make 1.6 million tons, or 23 percent of the potential output in the country, Saint-Antonin said.
To contact the reporters on this story: Brian McGee in Madrid at [email protected]; Antonio Ligi in Zurich at [email protected]
Last Updated: April 4, 2008 07:49 EDT
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a1X.Z5a2TM_0&refer=home (http://)
Dan, Purple & Gold, boutons, come to the defence of your idol . . .
By Brian McGee and Steven Bodzin
April 4 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said he plans to seize cement operations in the country, threatening the assets of the nation's largest producer, Cemex SAB of Mexico.
``Starting from now, all legal and economic measures should be taken to nationalize the national cement industry in the short term,'' Chavez said in a communications ministry statement.
The move would also affect Lafarge SA of France and Holcim Ltd. of Switzerland. Many cement companies are polluting the environment and have failed to invest in new technology, Chavez said. The state will pay the plant owners ``whatever it costs'' and invest in the modernization of factories, he said.
Chavez has given pro-nationalization speeches to draw on popular Venezuelan opposition to state asset sales to foreign companies in the 1990s. Last year, the state took over four heavy crude oil joint ventures as well as the nation's biggest electricity provider and telephone company. Seizing Total SA's stake in a project cost Venezuela $834 million in oil shipments.
The Venezuelan leader said he would ban asphalt exports and is restricting shipments of food abroad, all part of his effort to overcome shortages amid the fastest economic growth in the Americas. Chavez has accused building-material suppliers of running a monopoly and slowing the construction of homes and roads.
Serious Threat
Cemex is the largest domestic supplier of cement and ready-mix concrete in Venezuela, with annual cement production capacity of 4.6 million tons and 33 ready-mix plans, according to its Web site.
Holcim, the world's second-largest cement maker, is taking the threat ``seriously,'' spokesman Peter Gysel said in a phone interview today. The Swiss company operates two cement plants in Venezuela, one in San Sebastian and another in the Cumarebo region. Together, the factories produce 2.4 million tons and employ more than 500 people.
``We don't know any more than others,'' said Holcim's Gysel. ``We have to wait to see what happens. He said it already several times in the past.''
Lafarge spokeswoman Lucy Saint-Antonin declined to comment on the threat when contacted by Bloomberg today. The French company generates 90 million euros ($141 million) in revenue from Venezuelan operations. Its two plants have the capacity to make 1.6 million tons, or 23 percent of the potential output in the country, Saint-Antonin said.
To contact the reporters on this story: Brian McGee in Madrid at [email protected]; Antonio Ligi in Zurich at [email protected]
Last Updated: April 4, 2008 07:49 EDT
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a1X.Z5a2TM_0&refer=home (http://)
Dan, Purple & Gold, boutons, come to the defence of your idol . . .