This time the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez plans to seize cement operations in the country, threatening the assets of the nation's largest producer, Cemex SAB of Mexico.The move will also affect Lafarge SA of France and Holcim Ltd. of Switzerland, these cement companies keep polluting the environment and have failed to invest in new technology like most companies do...
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.
Hugo Chavez 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. This is a monopoly most international companies have...
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 serious. 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.
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.......
