CEMEX, Polaris sign aggregate material supply and distribution pact

CEMEX, Polaris sign aggregate material supply and distribution pact Aggregate firms CEMEX Inc. of Houston, and Polaris Minerals Corporation of Vancouver, Canada, said today they have entered into a long-term supply and distribution agreement for marine transported construction aggregates in California, Oregon and Washington.
   Within the area covered by the agreement, the CEMEX will be the exclusive marketer for Polaris aggregate products and Polaris will be the exclusive supplier to CEMEX of marine transported construction aggregates. According to a release, Polaris has already commenced sand and gravel shipments from the Orca Quarry on northern Vancouver Island to the two existing CEMEX terminals in San Francisco Bay.
   In addition, the two firms have entered into an alliance for the development of future construction aggregates import terminals in the same three-state region. Under terms of the alliance, Polaris will develop its 70-percent owned Eagle Rock Quarry at some market-determined point in the future. CEMEX and Polaris have agreed to cooperate in the pursuit of markets and terminal capacity for Eagle Rock crushed granite products. An existing Polaris construction aggregate supply and distribution agreement covering the four northern California counties of Marin, Sonoma, Mendocino and Napa will be unaffected by the CEMEX-Polaris alliance.
   Marco Romero, Polaris president and chief executive officer, said he expects the deal with CEMEX to help sales of products from the Orca Quarry to exceed earlier pre-alliance projections.