Jorge Martinez Mora, managing director of Caribbean Cement Company (CCCL) Limited said the cement manufacturer’s parent firm, CEMEX, will continue investing in the operation to meet domestic production demands.

During his overview at the company’s annual general meeting held online last week, Martinez Mora pointed out that CEMEX’s capital injection in Carib Cement grew by one per cent between 2022 and 2023. However, he said that in the current financial year, that investment will increase substantially.

“You can see an increase of one per cent compared with 2022. But, at the same time, you can expect 2024 to have even a big[ger] increase, because the main project that right now we are running…and precisely because we are pursuing again the high production levels that we need to meet precisely to take all the domestic demand and generate a surplus precisely to be well-prepared to some exports in the near future,” he informed shareholders.

According to Martinez Mora, CEMEX has invested $10.6 billion in fresh capital in CCCL over the last seven years. In 2023 alone, capital investment was $1.6 billion.

For 2024, CCCL is investing in laboratory equipment and improving the supply chain to enhance service to its end users.

The managing director explained further that “the customer has to be at the centre of the circle where the decisions are [made].” As such, CCCL is consulting with its customers on service delivery to develop innovative solutions and products to meet their needs.

Pointing out that the cement maker is using technology to improve business processes, Martinez Mora announced that CCCL is piloting a pickup appointment system called ‘Digital Passport’.

The project aims to improve order fulfilment – the time between a customer placing an order and the delivery of the product. Carib Cement is using GPS technology on its delivery trucks as part of a tracking system.

“So this is part of how we’re trying to evolve with a full commitment of designing some client-based solutions,” the managing director outlined.

CCCL’s revenues increased by seven per cent over FY2022 to $27.7 billion at the end of last year.

“The increase in revenue was mainly due to a pricing strategy to recover from the market decrease and an increase in cost driven by high inflation,” Marinez Mora explained in the company’s annual report.

Notwithstanding, domestic sales volumes were down marginally, by 1.9 per cent, with bagged cement volumes dropping four per cent. This was offset by a 9.6 per cent rise in bulk cement volume and 5.9 per cent increase in export volume.

Year-on-year export volume moved from 1,000 metric tonnes to 6,900 metric tonnes in 2023. Sales to other Caribbean countries jumped from $18.56 million to $121.87 million.  While export sales to North America in 2022 were $23.40 million, there were no records of sales to that market last year.

Commenting on rising bulk sales, the managing director told shareholders that he expects the trend to continue with bulk cement and bag cement having an inverse relationship.

Operating profit for 2023, was 5.5 per cent lower than the previous year, dropping to J$7.44 billion. However, net income rose to J$5.59 billion, up from J$5.39 billion in 2022.

Earnings per share improved from $6.33 to $6.55.