Cementos Lima flexes unused muscles in front of Cemex

The cement sector in Peru is dominated by six players, Cementos Lima, Pacasmayo, Andino, Yura, Sur and Selva. The most important of the six is Cementos Lima (with its Sol and Atlas brands): the group boasted 38.2% of the year-2007 market nationally, according to the local Asociacion de Productores de Cemento, selling 2.57 million m tons, almost twice as much as Pacasmayo, the second leading firm.

Cementos Lima, aged 92, has its brands distributed by La Viga, a firm which notes that the majority of sales are for home-building, the vast majority sold in 42.5-kilo bags. Lima had recourse to an advertising agency for the first time just last year, asking Mayo to transform generic products into brands. In 2007, Cementos Yura, the fourth player in the industry with a 15.9% market share, invested just US$469 in advertising (on one magazine advert). Lima spent almost 1,000 times more as it prepared for battle with Latinamerican Trading, the name behind which Cemex of Mexico has entered the market.

Publication: SABI - Business News
Provider: South American Business Information
Date: September 5, 2008