Cementos Artigas, our Uruguayan company owned by Votorantim Cimentos and us, has inaugurated a completely new, remodelled plant last week in Minas, a location 100 kms from Montevideo, Uruguay’s capital. The new factory is a result of an US$40 million investment and an 18-month project aimed at building one of the most efficient and sustainable cement plants in the region.
Bringing together all industrial, mining and logistics facilities previously distributed between Montevideo and Minas into a single production center, the new factory will, thus, concentrate all its operations in a unified production line, achieving high levels of productivity and delivering important cost-efficiencies. With a strong focus on raising the center’s environmental standards, the new cutting-edge plant will be an example of sustainability, among the best in the sector.
Highlights of the project include a new high-efficiency vertical cement mill, a multicellular silo, and a modern, high-productivity bulk cement dispatcher. In terms of sustainability, the new center is expected to achieve significant savings on electricity and transport costs, as well as reducing its environmental impact urban population, as the plant moves to an industrial, unpopulated, area of the country.
The significant financial investment, which has been deployed over 18 months, has also secured the jobs of existing employees, but also created another 300 positions for the construction of the plant.
According to Julio Rodríguez, our CEO, "this new investment is proof of our solid commitment to Uruguay, where we have been present since 1991. It is also central to the objectives laid-out in out Sustainability Roadmap.” Rodriguez also highlighted that projects like the plant in Minas are excellent examples of how Cementos Molins, through Cementos Artigas, is a key player in the economy of the region and one of the most competitive companies in the country.
The inauguration of the plant, which took place yesterday, was attended by important dignitaries including Dr Luis Lacalle, President of Urguay, Omar Paganini, the country’s Minister of Industry, Energy and Mines, and Alejandro Irastorza, the Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance. The presence of high-level attendees further enhanced the message of the importance of the project to Uruguay and to the region’s economic development.
