Ancap’s portland production He faces an extra problem during these hours. The plant located in the city of Minas has been stopped since February 28, that is, 12 days ago.
On Thursday, March 2, the Fancap union carried out a 24-hour general strike in all the company’s offices. In some sectors, such as the La Teja refinery and the Paysandú cement plant, it was arranged in advance, and after agreement with the union, lto carry out operational guards to “maintain the safety and integrity of people, environment and equipment”, according to Ancap. This did not happen at the Minas plant.
The entity explained that the union decision not to provide union guards to maintain normal operation triggered the agreed negotiation procedures and, in the case of the Minas plant, “Forced those responsible to stop operations due to the lack of certainty of having enough personnel for normal and safe operation on March 2.”
Although an orderly shutdown was processed, problems arose during start-up that still prevent normal operation. “The cement plant was unable to resume operation due to the formation of a mass of material at the entrance of the kiln originating as a consequence of the stoppage of the production processes, which requires cooling from high temperatures for re-ignition after the union measure passed. ”, expressed the company.
“The damage caused by this situation is, at least so far, the loss of production at the Minas plant since February 28. In the critical situation of the cement and lime business, these events severely damage Ancap’s equity and reputation,” the entity said on Friday.
“Distressing situation”
This week the president of the public company, Alejandro Stipanicic, affirmed that the situation of the Portland business “It’s dramatic.” “We have to find a solution. (…) Portland continued to lose market and price. Last year we had union problems. The situation is distressing.” he told the weekly Búsqueda.
The Portland division has accumulated numbers in the red for more than two decadeswith losses of about US$ 10 million per year on average.
as reported The Observer, a competitive procedure is currently underway to incorporate a private partner into the business. In the next few days, the first stage, which consisted of a call for expressions of interest, will end. It also included meetings with the interested parties in order to exchange considerations on the future vision of the businesses and the possible forms of association.
The second stage is recruitment. Based on the elements that emerged in the previous stage, Ancap will prepare the bases and conditions of the public call for association and will define the terms of the call.
“We have already begun to develop an option to the original comprehensive association plan. The partial integral association (…) It can be one or two, to export and supply Ancap to the local market. That can enable the interest of more companies, particularly local ones”, said Stipanicic.
The entry of a private partner into the Portland business is today a point of conflict with the Fancap union, which opposes that strategy.
