QCOSTARICA BUSINESS – A subsidiary of a Chinese cement company was registered in the country in November and since December preparations have been made for changes to the regulation of cement sales, making the shelf life of the material more flexible.
The company Sinocem de Costa Rica SA, part of the JCB Group, is looking to import cement into the country taking advantage of “… The longer shelf life which allows the long journey from China and would provide a margin for its sale.”
Juan Carlos Bolanos, president of the JCB Group, told Nacion.com that “… At this time I can import this material only for my own consumption but once the regulations have been modified, it could be marketed. Construction is one of the most important indicators of a country’s development. By bringing in cement from Sinocem, Costa Ricans will get a discount of approximately 15%. ”
In light of the possible drop in cement prices, Welmer Ramos, chief of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, added that “… I can not guarantee lower prices. It is a market where I can intevene to determine prices. The main argument is the opening up of the market in order to achieve consumer benefits, offering different varieties of cement. ”
(Via Nacion.com)
More competition in the cement industry in Costa Rica should be good for the consumer, assuming the imported cement from China is not of an inferior quality.
Considering your labor is involved, do you want to risk using a possible inferior product?
Cement, regardless of where is produced, begins to chemically degrade from the day of production. The packaging is not hermetic and the exposure to environmental humidity accelerates the degradation. Most reputable engineers (there might actually be some) will reject cement more that three months old unless it can be proved that it has been kept within a humidity controlled environment.
Degraded cement will fail to deliver the expected strength when it is cured. Do you think that the ships that will transport Chinese cement are climate controlled? Do you think that the imported cement will be kept in climate controlled bodegas? Do you think that this cement can be produced, packaged, exported, transported, imported and distributed within Costa Rica in less than three months?
In a earthquake prone zone, such as ours, do you want you house built with poor strength cement? Do you want to work in a building that could fail due to poor cement? How about schools built with such a cement? Maybe we can fix La Platina with it?
It’s not too hard to see this freight train coming but will Ticos do something to avoid it? Not a chance. But money is to be made and that is all that matters.