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Indumil sees an opportunity in 4G works.

ENTREVISTA_PORTAFOLIO

In an interview given to the newspaper Portafolio, Coronoel Juan Manuel Padilla, general manager, talks about the projections that Indumil has in the short and medium term. 80 % of Indumil's sales are not military products.

The general manager, Colonel Juan Manuel Padilla Cepeda, assures that the 4G concessions will make them grow by 10 % annually, since they are the only authorized suppliers of explosives in the country. In 2015 they expect to invoice $ 485,000 million.
Not only the construction companies have their hopes pinned on the construction of roads starting through fourth generation or 4G concessions. The state-owned company Industria Militar Colombiana (Indumil) also estimates that the start of these works will 'skyrocket' its sales, since it would be the only supplier of the explosives used in excavations for bridges and tunnels.
Colonel Juan Manuel Padilla, manager of this firm, talks about the reconversion process they have experienced so that today 80 % of their turnover corresponds to elements for civilian companies, not weapons.

Since when has this shift been taking place?

It is a process that has been going on for several years. Indumil wanted to stop being just a producer of weapons and explosives to focus on the industry, mining and productive sectors of the country. However, in the last six years, when mining has had competitive advantages, its turnover in the sector has grown significantly.

Who are your largest civilian clients?

In particular, open pit coal plants, such as Drummond, Cerrejón, Caipa, are clients but also partners, because we have plants inside their mines and we not only sell them an explosive, but we are part of the entire process.

How many of these satellite plants do you have?

We have four explosives production plants within the mines in Cerrejón, Drummond, La Jagua and Cerro Matoso, which is nickel.

Why produce explosives 'in situ'?

Because in open pit mines, and even in underground mines, it is impossible to extract the mineral without first blasting to prepare the ground to extract the material with machines. But that means there is a great demand.
In underground mines, which are smaller, we have clients to whom we sell explosives, no longer in bulk injected at the blasting site, but in traditional plugs. This occurs, for example, in the mines of Antioquia, Santander and Boyacá. What's more, we modernize our products so that they are much less sensitive to toxic gases from mines, or that they are less producers of gases that ultimately lead to accidents.

Does everything stay in the country or do they export?

In explosives, only less than 5% goes abroad and in the entire Indumil portfolio last year about 3 million dollars were exported, including weapons for military use, ammunition and weapons for security companies. Explosives are our smallest exports, despite the fact that they represent 68% of our turnover.

How much are your sales?

Last year there were 444,000 million pesos and about 303,000 million were from explosives. The rest are weapons, ammunition, weapons for the private security sector and metal-mechanical products.

Why metalworking products?

We produce parts for chassis and the king-pin for tractor trailers. We have a company in Pereira where we produce the entire hardware system for bus seats, wheels for trains and dock wheels to take ships to dry docks in shipyards.

What sense does that make, if the State has exited companies that are not essential to its mission?

We try not to compete with individuals, but to substitute imports. We also do it because we have a very large metal-mechanical capacity and just as a grenade is produced, a train wheel can be made, because the defense needs are variable.

Does the slowdown of mining companies affect them?

We have not stopped selling because companies, especially coal companies, have tried to replace the lower price by increasing production, so that they also consume more of our products.

What opportunities do you see in the future?

There are very interesting prospects in 4G routes. When you go to build a road you need an incredible amount of inputs.

How much will they grow when these start?

In sales of explosives we believe that we are going to grow close to 18 %. At this moment there are 7,000 kilometers of roads planned in 4G projects for the next eight years. And there are 138 kilometers of designed tunnels. To make them, you need to open the hole with controlled explosions. At this moment we are participating in the Oriente Tunnel (Antioquia) and we have done other tunnel projects, also for the country's hydroelectric plants.

How much is that going to improve your billing?

I hope it will allow us to grow to at least 10% in the coming years.

What growth will they have in 2015?

In 2014 we grew by 6 % and the perspective for 2015 was to grow by double digits, but market conditions, such as the situation with the dollar, will surely not allow us to reach 10 % this year. We expect to sell around 485,000 million pesos, according to the projection we made last year, on which we stand, although the profit will be lower. Last year to sell one hundred pesos we spent 69 to 70 and now we are spending over 80 pesos.

Source: Portafolio.co
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