Companies

Cemex Colombia 4Q 2017 Earnings Decline Year-on-Year; Maceo Plant in Limbo

Medellin Herald February 9, 2018

Cemex Colombia fourth quarter (4Q) 2017 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) fell 20% year-on-year, to US$30 million, Cemex Latam Holdings (CLH) announced February 8. Net sales for the CLH-Colombia division also fell 12% year-on-year, to US$134 million,

Colombian economy

Colombian Full-year 2017 Exports Jump 19% Year-on-Year

Medellin Herald February 5, 2018

Colombia’s national economic statistics agency (Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadistica, DANE) revealed February 5 that full-year 2017 exports jumped 19% year-on-year, to US$37.8 billion, up from US$31.7 billion in 2016 — a year that saw exports drop 11.8% year-on-year. By dollar value, petroleum and mining exports led the field, up 32.4% year-on-year,

Real Estate

Colombia Supreme Court Ruling: Fiduciaries Hardly Protect Real-Estate Investors

Medellin Herald February 2, 2018

The Supreme Court of Colombia on January 17 notified a group of investors suing a fiduciary over a failed medical-office-building project near Medellin that a fiduciary has extremely limited legal obligations to oversee performance of shaky real-estate development projects or verify crucial financial assertions made by the developer. The group of investors had sued

Companies

Exito’s ‘Didetexco’ Alliance Helps Colombia Compete in Tough Clothing Markets

Medellin Herald January 28, 2018

Medellin-based multinational retail giant Exito is enjoying ever-greater success with its “Didetexco” clothing manufacture/export subsidiary – even in the face of Colombia’s  competitive problems with illegal, below-cost, and unethical clothing vendors (mainly exporting from Asia). In a presentation to the Colombiatex 2018 annual show here January 23, Didetexco general

Companies

Celsia Full-Year 2017 Profits Rise 47% Despite Lower Power Prices

Medellin Herald January 27, 2018

Medellin-based Celsia – the electric-power division of corporate giant Grupo Argos – on January 26 reported full-year 2017 net profits of COP$251 billion (US$89 million), up 47% from COP$171 billion (US$61 million) in 2016. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) hit COP$1.12 trillion (US$399 million) for full-year 2017, up 9% year-on-year

General News

‘Vias del Nus’ Highways, Crucial Tunnel Passages Win Enviro Permits

Medellin Herald January 27, 2018

The Medellin-based “Vias del Nus” (“Vinus”) highway construction concessionaire announced January 22 that it won crucial permits from Agencia Nacional de Licencias Ambientales (ANLA) to build twin tunnels through “La Quiebra,” the principal obstacle blocking cost- and time-efficient freight traffic between Medellin and the Rio Magdalena. The “Quiebra” pass currently only

Congresses & Conferences

Colombiatex 2018: New Markets, Bigger Sales, Higher Tech

Medellin Herald January 26, 2018

Inexmoda — the Medellin-based national trade group for Colombia’s textile and fashion industry – announced January 25 that the 30th annual “Colombiatex” show here generated new business deals likely to top US$356 million, surpassing last year’s estimate of US$326 million. In total, 36% of the dollar value of projected new-business deals here involved purchase of […]

Companies

ACI Touts Arrival of Swiss Multinational Amaris to Medellin’s ‘Ruta N’

Medellin Herald January 19, 2018

Medellin business-development agency Agencia de Cooperación e Inversión de Medellín y el Área Metropolitana (ACI) announced January 19 that Switzerland-based multinational consultant Amaris plans to expand its Colombian and South American operations following start-up of new offices at Medellin’s “Ruta N” high-tech hosting center. “Teamwork between ACI Medellín, Ruta N and

General News

EPM Debuts 1st-Ever Commercial Solar-Power System at ‘El Tesoro’ Shopping Mall

Medellin Herald January 19, 2018

Medellin-based multinational electric-power giant EPM announced January 19 the start-up of a 590 megawatt-hours/year (MWh/year) solar-voltaic power system for the “El Tesoro” shopping mall in the Poblado district. The photovoltaic system will operate in parallel with conventional grid power (overwhelmingly hydroelectric-sourced), according to EPM. It’s EPM’s first-ever

General News

Electric Power Demand During 2017 Dipped in Antioquia, Grew Nationally

Medellin Herald January 18, 2018

The latest study by Medellin-based XM – Colombia’s national power-grid operator and wholesale power-trading center – finds that demand for electric power in Antioquia slipped by 0.8% year-on-year during full-year 2017, while nationwide power demand actually rose 1.3%. Nationwide power demand in 2017 totaled 66,893 gigawatt-hours, the study found. Power demand growth in