This September 5, the Mixed Company TecComp Caribe, S.A. was established. by the Russian company United Composite Technologies and the Sociedad Mercantil Cubana Simen Aut S.A. belonging to GESIME. This is the first joint venture with Russian participation in the Mariel Special Development Zone, part that will guarantee its financing and the necessary technologies.

The new organization will dedicate itself to the production of bars and meshes composed of fiberglass reinforced polymer (GRP) for the reinforcement of concrete in different construction systems.

This new product is distinguished by its durability, with a projection of at least 80 years according to the studies carried out, given its high tensile strength, its low thermal and electrical conductivity and its anticorrosive properties, even in aggressive media, such as exposed to chloride salts in coastal areas, for example.

The latter represents a great advantage for its use in Cuban environmental and climatic conditions, which will allow, at the same time, to use less aggregates in buildings and make them lighter.

In this way, the use of the GRP bars will imply a reduction of costs in the construction processes, for the concept of inputs, and also for transportation and loading due to their light weight, between eight and nine times less than that of steel.

It is worth noting that this is an alternative product that will complement the production and use of steel in light of the country's construction needs. In structural issues the GRP bars have to be used together with the steel, since this gives the necessary rigidity to the structure, while the polymer gives it greater tensile strength. However, due to its characteristics, it can be used uniquely in more than 60% of reinforced concrete works.

So the GRP bars and meshes can be applied in different construction fields such as: objects of road and transport infrastructure, urban engineering works, capital construction projects, maritime and port facilities, agricultural objects, facilities that are They will exploit in conditions of high tensions of electromagnetic fields (TRM cabins, supports for high voltage lines, stations, railway sleepers, etc.), mines and tunnels, thermal insulation constructions, among others.

It is estimated by the parties involved, that production begins in approximately a year and a half, once the investment process is finished, and the volumes are in the order of 3 thousand and 5 thousand tons, gradually growing depending on acceptance that the product has in the Cuban market, where it constitutes a novelty.