2024, Brazilian steel company CSN signed an exclusive agreement with InterCement. CSN intends to acquire InterCement's business in Brazil and Argentina. The contract is valid until July 12, 2024. The contract involves the acquisition of 100% of InterCement's equity and its subsidiaries. The two sides will reach a final agreement by mid-July. InterCement, which has plants in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Egypt, previously divested its subsidiaries in Mozambique and South Africa in June 2023. CSN's acquisition of InterCement's cement business is of strategic significance to its own development, on the one hand, it can dilute CSN Group's exposure to commodities such as steel and ore, on the other hand, it can expand CSN's business in the Brazilian cement market and consolidate its market position.
CSN's expansion in the Brazilian cement market has already begun. In September 2021, CSN acquired LafargeHolcim's cement business in Brazil for $1.03 billion. Its assets include five integrated cement plants, four grinding plants and 19 ready-mix concrete facilities. The acquisition added 10.3 million tons of capacity to CSN Cimentos Cement Plant, as well as a large number of high-quality limestone, concrete and aggregate resources, and boosted CSN's position in the Brazilian cement market to the third place at that time.
CSN is currently the second largest manufacturer in the Brazilian cement industry (Votorantim ranks first). CSN Cimentos has an installed capacity of 17 million tons in 2023 and occupies an important position in the markets of Southeast, Midwest and Northeast Brazil. By the end of 2023, CSN Cimentos will have seven integrated plants, six grinding plants and eight aggregate and concrete units. In
2024, CSN Cimentos plans to continue to expand its presence in the Brazilian market, expanding its geographic presence in the northern, northeastern and southern regions of Brazil. The company plans to invest 5 billion Brazilian reals to build three new integrated factories. Through these initiatives, CSN Cimentos is expected to significantly increase its installed cement capacity from 17 to 25 million tons per year.
Figure 1: CSN Cimentos Cement Installed Capacity Greatly Increases
Source: Cement Big Data (https://data.ccement.com/)
