Cement exports from Barbados appear to be on the rebound.
Following a difficult period during which it said equipment at the Arawak Cement Company Limited was in need of major repair, Trinidad and Tobago parent company Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL) is reporting an improvement.
Group chairman Andy J. Bhajan and group chief executive officer Dr Rollin Bertrand, who is also a TCL director, disclosed this and the fact that TCL’s revenue increased by TT$50.5 million in the fourth quarter ended December 2013, in their latest consolidated audited financial report.
The officials noted that for the period under review the group’s performance “was negatively impacted by lower sales volumes compared to the average of the prior three quarters as well as production challenges at the Barbados plant”.
However, they added: “Critical repairs at the Barbados plant have been completed while local demand is in line with our expectation and exports are being made to the buoyant Guyana market and others.”
They also noted that “demand in Jamaica in the first two months of 2014 was slower than 2013 but growth is forecast for the economy in 2014 which tends to benefit the construction sector”.
“The plant in Jamaica will fulfil the remainder of its 100 kilotonnes Venezuela supply contract and negotiations have commenced for a new contract to supply 240 kilotonnes over 12 months. The Trinidad and Tobago market remained buoyant in the first two months of 2014 and we expect this buoyancy for all of 2014 which will significantly enhance our cement and concrete businesses,” the officials added.
Looking at TCL’s financial performance for all of last year, Bhajan and Bertrand pointed to “notable improvement” evident in the TT$268.9 million (174 per cent) increase in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.
(SC)
