CEMEX breaks ground for $250M operations expansion

On March 23, CEMEX USA president Gilberto Perez and Texas Governor Rick Perry broke ground at a celebration signaling the official beginning of CEMEX’s Balcones cement operations expansion. Numerous state legislators, New Braunfels citizens and CEMEX employees attended the event at the company’s New Braunfels, Texas, location.

“This expansion demonstrates a significant financial commitment to the community, a dedication to the environment, and allows Texas to be better positioned to meet its future needs for housing, roads, bridges, commercial buildings and other infrastructure facilities,” said Perez. “Today, we are one step closer to meeting the future construction needs of our region. Let’s get started.”

“With more than 25 years doing business in Texas, CEMEX is quite literally a key part of the foundation Texas relies on to build the future of our state,” said Governor Perry. “On behalf of all Texas families, I want to thank CEMEX for bringing robust and responsible investment to our state.”

Estimated at $250 million, all of the capital expenditures investment will be used for the expansion of the CEMEX facility in Comal County. The project will add a second kiln to the operations, doubling the cement production capacity to 2.4 million tons to support the growing need for cement in Texas for everything from roads and bridges to hospitals, schools and other projects around the state.

Even though the cement production will double, the operations’ emissions will not increase. CEMEX will replace existing equipment and install state-of-the-art technology to protect the environment. More efficient dust control equipment and the installation of new NOx control technology to the existing kiln system will be completed. The new kiln will receive the latest technology in terms of emission levels and fuel efficiency. Additionally, a high-tech new finish mill with an energy efficient vertical roller mill, one of only a few in the United States, will be built. All of these items will allow the plant, when the new expansion is fully completed in 2008, to remain at current emissions levels and at the cutting edge of technology in the industry.

The expansion will create new jobs at the CEMEX operations. It will also bring in construction jobs during the project, resulting in a cash infusion of approximately $46 million to the local economy. Indirect full-time jobs will increase approximately 60 percent because of increased material shipping, maintenance, equipment operation and management needs for the project.

Currently, at the Balcones cement and quarry operations, CEMEX employs nearly 180 workers, with an annual payroll of more than $9 million. Across the state, more than 1,300 people work for CEMEX supporting cement, ready mix concrete and aggregates operations in Texas communities.