While the soap opera purchase of InterCement for the CSN Cimentos continues without an outcome, its competitors are moving behind the scenes to take advantage of the growing demand for cement in the construction industry. The most recent transaction is the purchase of Cimentos do Maranhão (Accomplishment), owner of the brand “Bravo”, by the group Polimixyes Mizu Cimentos. The value of the deal, which still depends on Cade’s authorization, was not revealed.
Cimar is part of the Cimento Portland Participações (CPP) holding, which brings together two important civil construction families: the Cornelius Brennand e Queiroz Galvão. The company’s factory, located in São Luís, came into operation 10 years ago and should be Mizu Cimentos’ 14th plant in the country, adding 500 thousand tons per year to the 8.25 million tons per year that the Polimix company is capable of produce.
READ MORE: What does CSN see in InterCement to renew (once again) the agreement to purchase the company
The cement market in the country is experiencing a year of strong activity. From January to October, product sales grew more than 4%exceeding the sector’s expectations, which projects a 3% increase in sales this year compared to 2023, which would increase the volume to 64 million tons.
“Cement has a certain future in Brazil”, he told analysts Benjamin Quarrycontroller of CSN Cimentos, which renewed this week once again the exclusivity to close the purchase of InterCement, from the Camargo Corrêa family, which could lead CSN to the leadership in cement sales in the country. “It’s a product that’s missing, and we just don’t sell it anymore because we lack production capacity.”
In the case of CSN Cimentos, Steinbruch stated that CSN currently operates at practically full production capacity. And the growth of the construction segment of affordable housing (read Minha Casa Minha Vida) has everything to do with this, reported the National Cement Industry Union (Snic).
In addition to housing construction, several infrastructure projects – such as sanitation, roads and energy transmission – are expected for next year. Until 2033, projects are planned by the government that total investments of R$1.6 trillion. All of this will require a lot of cement. The expectation for 2025 is that civil construction GDP will continue to grow and provide more opportunities for companies.
On another front, the Votorantim Cimentos (VC)the market leader, recently recorded the best quarter in its history, with net profit of R$1 billion. The company’s Ermírio de Moraes family is one of the favorites to end the drought of IPOs for Brazilian companies, with rumors that a listing could take place in New York – what is denied by VC. With a possible inflow of resources, Votorantim would have new energy to open factories and return to M&As abroad.
But, while not even the sale of InterCement comes to fruition, let alone the IPO of Votorantim Cimentos, the Polimix group has been eating on the sidelines. In addition to the acquisition of Cimar, businessman Ronaldo Moreira Vieira’s company has been taking advantage of the restructuring of Queiroz Galvão and also purchased two quarries from the grouplocated in the States of Ceará and Rio de Janeiro.
The assets will increase capacity of Polimix to produce so-called aggregates for concreting: basically crushed stone and industrial sand for various uses in civil construction. Currently, Polimix has 18 quarries in the country, with the capacity to deliver up to 20 million tons of aggregates per year.
Created in the late 1970s in Espírito Santo under the name Concaprex, the Polimix group operates businesses in the areas of concrete, cement, energy and logistics, with Porto Central, a port terminal located in the south of the state. The group is present in more than 20 states and in six other countries (United States, Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Peru and Panama).
