CO B S MO PA CE N YS .NAA. M E
El Puente cement factory, located in Tarija
Emisa cement plant, located in Oruro
158
July 2016
and the private sector. The company’s most important product is cement mix, sold through the Viacha, Emisa, El Puente and Warnes brands. Ready Mix stands out as the group’s premixed concrete brand. The most recent addition to SOBOCE’s product roster is SOBOPRET, its prefab material line, a reliable supplier from beams to complete prefabricated homes. Innovation in manufacturing processes and new products Maintaining the same pace as the construction industry in Bolivia demands significant investments to increase production by expanding the company’s facilities. The Viacha cement plant, located in the La Paz Department, is already into its 12th expansion process, which belongs to a larger scheme known as the Illimani Project. This time, a vertical grinding mill from FLSmidth will be deployed; this Danish company has been a supplier to SOBOCE since the 1970s. The vertical grinding mill will be the first in its class to be installed at Bolivia, and it will become the highest cement-grinding vertical mill above sea level. The Illimani Project also includes the deployment of automated systems for concrete mix bag packaging and palletizing, as well as silo construction. The aforementioned efforts are expected to contribute in increasing production to two million tons per year in the Viacha plant, which