August 1, 2022. Specialty cement manufacturer Calucem will enter the U.S. market by developing a $35 million manufacturing facility in eastern New Orleans. Calucem, a subsidiary of Cementos Molins, is the world’s second-largest producer of calcium aluminate cement, a high-performance product applied in a variety of commercial and industrial uses.
The project will create 70 direct jobs and the Louisiana Economic Development estimates the project also will result in 158 indirect jobs, for a total of 228 new jobs for Louisiana’s Southeast Region.
“In choosing Louisiana, Calucem recognizes our unrivaled logistical advantages for connecting manufacturers to both domestic and foreign markets,” Gov. John Bel Edwards said. “The site this international company has selected in New Orleans is emblematic of the state’s many strategic locations for the manufacture and worldwide shipment of products. We welcome this latest foreign direct investment in our diversified economy.”
Calucem plans to develop the facility at a nine-acre site on the Industrial Canal. The facility is expected to begin operations in the third quarter of 2023.
“Calucem is taking on a new investment that will support our growth and diversification in the U.S. and ensure that we continue to offer high-value products to our global customers,” Calucem President and CEO Yuri Bouwhuis said. “Our choice of Louisiana for our first all-new manufacturing project in the U.S. is due to the availability of strategic raw materials such as limestone and natural gas, access to waterways and skilled labor, and the long history of using specialty cement products in the U.S.”
Cementos Molins, Calucem’s parent company, operates facilities in 12 countries on four continents. The Louisiana project will create its third calcium aluminate production center, joining Barcelona, Spain, and Pula, Croatia.
“This investment drives the company’s growth in innovative solutions for the construction sector and consolidates Cementos Molins as a world reference in the production of calcium aluminate cement,” Cementos Molins CEO Julio Rodriguez said. “I deeply thank the entire Calucem team for their efforts to announce this operation and the great work developed by the company in recent years in favor of the development of more sustainable products and solutions.”