Brazil Stock Guide — Votorantim Cimentos will invest R$ 260 million to expand its plant in Xambioá, in the northern state of Tocantins, betting on continued growth in construction activity across Brazil’s North region.
The project includes a new cement grinding line that will add 500,000 metric tons of annual capacity. Once completed in July 2028, the expansion will lift the plant’s total capacity by 50%, from 1 million to 1.5 million tons a year.
The investment amounts to about R$ 520 for each ton of annual capacity added and represents 5.2% of Votorantim Cimentos’ R$5 billion investment program for Brazil between 2024 and 2028.
The company said R$3.1 billion, or 62% of the program, is already being deployed, including the Xambioá project. The broader plan covers capacity additions, plant modernization, logistics, increased use of alternative fuels and initiatives to reduce carbon emissions.
Betting on Northern Brazil
The expansion comes as Brazil’s cement industry shows signs of steady recovery. Domestic sales rose 7.7% in June from a year earlier and 2.3% in the first half of 2026, reaching 32.9 million tons, according to the national cement industry association SNIC.
Sales in the North region increased 10.1% in June, outpacing the national average and reinforcing the business case for additional local capacity.
The Xambioá plant supplies cement under the Poty and Tocantins brands to customers in Tocantins, Pará and Maranhão. Its location allows Votorantim Cimentos to serve three expanding markets while limiting the cost of shipping cement over long distances from plants in other regions.
“Our Xambioá plant is already a benchmark for customers and the broader market in Brazil’s North region,” Chief Executive Officer Osvaldo Ayres Filho said. “This expansion strengthens our competitive position and reflects our confidence in the region’s growth potential.”
Opened in 2009, the plant currently supports about 230 direct jobs. The company did not disclose how many jobs will be created during construction or after the new line begins operating.
Grinding Capacity Comes First
The new grinding line will be developed alongside the ongoing modernization of the plant’s clinker kiln. Clinker is the main intermediate input used to make cement, and its production accounts for most of the industry’s carbon emissions.
The confirmed R$260 million investment will increase the plant’s ability to grind clinker into cement, but a potential doubling of clinker production at Xambioá remains under study and would not take place before 2030.
Until that additional clinker capacity is approved, the expanded grinding operation may need to rely on efficiency gains from the kiln modernization or clinker shipments from other Votorantim facilities. The company did not detail how it plans to supply the full increase in grinding capacity.
Votorantim Cimentos is also studying an expansion of agricultural limestone production at the site. The product is sold under Viter, the company’s agricultural solutions brand, and is used by farmers to correct soil acidity and improve crop productivity.
Reducing Reliance on Petroleum Coke
The investment is also tied to Votorantim Cimentos’ decarbonization strategy. Waste-derived fuels and biomass currently account for 60% of the fuel mix at the Xambioá plant, partially replacing petroleum coke.
The process, known as co-processing, uses selected waste materials as fuel in cement kilns. It reduces the consumption of fossil fuels while providing an alternative to sending waste to landfills.
The kiln modernization and the development of lower-carbon cement could further reduce the plant’s emissions intensity. Votorantim Cimentos, however, did not provide a specific carbon-reduction target for the R$260 million project.
The Xambioá expansion is part of a broader investment push across Brazil. The company’s R$5 billion program includes capacity additions and plant upgrades in all regions of the country, with projects designed to increase cement production, improve structural competitiveness and accelerate the transition toward lower-carbon operations.
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