VILNIUS - Akmenes Cementas (Akmene Cement), Lithuania's only cement producer, said it might postpone construction of a new 300 million lita (87 million euro) plant.
Sigitas Leminskas, Akmenes Cementas deputy CEO, was quoted in a specialized publication, Cementininku Zinios, saying that the construction was likely to be postponed since more time was needed on design specifications.
"We need to know the parameters, the weight and other data of new installations before we sign a contract with the contractors due to design the buildings and premises," Leminskas said.
"The suppliers of equipment have asked for three or four months to work out the [details]. Then the designers will do their share of work. Afterwards we will choose the builders and sign a respective contract," he added.
Lithuania, like all Baltic states, has suffered from a dearth of cement in recent years as the country undergoes a building boom.
Last May Akmene Cement halted exports to the Kaliningrad region and Finland as it struggled to meet domestic demand. The company said that the 10 percent of its output exported to Latvia may also be in jeopardy in 2008.
Latvia also suffers from a lack of cement, which triggered a massive price rise in 2006.
Akmene Cement initially planned to begin construction of the plant in the summer, but the starting date has been pushed back to the fall.
The company has signed a 31 million euros contract on the design, manufacturing and supply of installations with Germany's KHD Humboldt Wedag International. It chose Sweco BKG LSPI to design the construction project, CTP Team to supply filter equipment and Italy's Bedeschi to design and supply storehouse and raw materials preparation machinery.
The new line is expected to produce 4,500 tons of cement per day. Currently the company's output slightly exceeds 1 million tons per year.
Four Lithuanian private individuals hold a combined stake of 51 percent in Akmenes Cementas. Cemex, the Mexican cement giant, controls nearly 34 percent of voting shares through a subsidiary.
In 2007 the company's sales rose 31 percent year-on-year to 247.1 million litas. In January sales surged 23.2 percent to 11.2 million litas.
In Latvia, Cemex signed an agreement with TVA Construction, a Latvian firm, to be general contractor in building a 220 million euro cement plant in Broceni, where Cemex bought a cement factory in 2005.
Cemex sold 552,000 tons of concrete in Latvia in 2006, up 53 percent year-on-year.
