Global Cement News

We round off 2025 with the news that Holcim is preparing to buy a majority stake in Cementos Pacasmayo. This has implications for both the future of Holcim and the cement market in Peru. We explore this and more below.

This proposed acquisition starts to answer the question of what kind of company Holcim wants to be following the spin-off of Amrize, the North American business, in June 2025. The remainder of Holcim after the split consists of a large European segment and smaller divisions in Latin America and Asia, Middle East & Africa (AMEA). After the divestment of Lafarge Africa in Nigeria, the AMEA business now mainly covers North Africa, the Middle East, Australia, Bangladesh, China, New Zealand and the Philippines. In Latin America the group has subsidiaries in many countries, from Mexico south to Argentina. It also operates the Disensa construction materials retail chain. Holcim’s NextGen Growth 2030 strategy is targeted at sustainability and growth in AMEA and Latin America. The size of the business in Europe dictates the need for sustainability but the growth potential is elsewhere. Hence the attractiveness of deals like the one in Peru.

The acquisition of Cementos Pacasmayo follows a string of deals for Holcim in the country. Holcim purchased ready-mix concrete producer Mixercon and industrial minerals producer Comacsa for US$100m in mid-2024. Then in April 2025 it bought specialty buildings products manufacturer Compañía Minera Luren. The proposed Cementos Pacasmayo deal builds on all of this. Holcim has agreed to spend US$1.5bn to buy a 50.01% share. Completion of the transaction is expected in the first half of 2026 once regulatory approval is obtained. It will give Holcim control of Cementos Pacasmayo’s three integrated cement plants with a combined production capacity of 4.9Mt/yr, 28 ready-mix and precast concrete plants and 300 of the company’s DINO retail stores. Notably, Holcim appears to be paying around US$610/t for the new capacity. This is comparable to recent deals in North America.

The Holcim deal marks a change to the dominance of the cement market in Peru by local players. Previously, all the integrated clinker producers - UNACEM, Cementos Pacasmayo, Grupo Gloria and Cementos Inka - were owned by Peruvian companies. This started to change in 2024 when Holcim bought Comacsa and its white cement plant in Lima. Coincidentally, a US$17.5m fine imposed upon Grupo Gloria by National Institute for the Defence of Free Competition and the Protection of Intellectual Property (Indecopi) for anticompetitive behaviour was confirmed this week. The penalty was originally announced in 2023 in response to the alleged enforcement of exclusive supply contracts and restricted access to Cemento Yura plants. The subsidiary of Grupo Gloria continues to oppose the ruling.

Graph 1: Cement despatches in Peru, 2016 - 2015. Source: Asociación de Productores de Cemento (ASOCEM). Note: Figure estimated for 2025.

Data for November 2025 from Asociación de Productores de Cemento (ASOCEM) shows that despatches grew by 5.9% year-on-year from December 2024 to November 2025. Both imports and exports of cement and clinker are also up. Similarly, Cementos Pacasmayo has reported a good year so far in 2025. Its sales grew by 7% year-on-year to US$462m and its consolidated earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) by 4.6% to US$121m in the first nine months of 2025. This was attributed to higher sales for infrastructure-related projects and an increase in bagged cement demand.

The cement market in Peru has bounced back strongly following the Covid-19 epidemic. There was a dip in 2023 and 2024 but the market stayed at higher levels than the late 2010s despite this. Further growth has now returned and more is expected in the future. This may explain why Holcim has agreed to pay serious money to buy a cement company in Peru. As the business in Europe adapts to sustainability it is looking to expand elsewhere. Latin America is the obvious candidate to build on the existing business. Locally in Peru, this deal will change the status quo and it will be fascinating to observe how the market evolves in coming years.

Global Cement Weekly will return on Wednesday 7 January 2026

Colombia: Grupo Argos has appointed Juan Esteban Calle as its president. He will succeed Jorge Mario Velásquez in the role from 1 April 2026.

Calle has worked as the president of Cementos Argos since 2016. Earlier in his career he held positions including Senior Investment Banking Associate at Chase Manhattan Bank, Secretary of Finance of the Department of Antioquia, Director of Foreign Investment at the Proexport Office in Canada and Investment Advisor at the Bank of Montreal. He holds a degree in Business Administration from the Universidad EAFIT and a master’s of business administration (MBA) majoring in Finance and Economics from the University of Chicago.

Portugal: The Technical Cement Industry Association (ATIC) has appointed Pedro Reis as its president. He will do this at the same time as Cevat Mert, the CEO of Cimpor Portugal and Cape Verde. Reis will continue to work as the vice-chair of Cimpor. Reis has a government background having previously worked as the Minister for the Economy and as the chair at AICEP, the Portuguese Agency for Foreign Trade and Investment.

US: Amrize has announced the commissioning of a production expansion at its cement plant in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, increasing the plant’s capacity by 600,000t/yr to reach a total of 5.0Mt/yr. The expansion forms part of Amrize’s broader US$700m investment plan for 2025, aimed at strengthening operations and supporting domestic customers.

The company said that the project reinforces its commitment to ‘Made in America’ manufacturing, supporting local jobs and communities while ensuring high-quality cement supply for builders across the country.

Türkiye: Cement exporter Medcem has secured contracts for 5.5Mt of cement and clinker for 2026, up from 4.8Mt in 2025, according to Platts, part of S&P Global Energy. The deals include 4Mt of bulk cement and 1Mt of bagged cement for the US market. Medcem also signed clinker contracts totalling 1.5Mt, including 0.5Mt of low-chromium clinker for Europe and standard clinker for other markets such as West Africa.

“Compared to 2025, our prices and volumes are higher for 2026, unlike other exporting countries who’ve had to maintain their prices or give a discount,” said CEO Murat Sahin. He added that, to support growing demand, Medcem is expanding its grinding capacity by nearly 1Mt/yr by 2027, increasing its total capacity from 7.5Mt/yr to 9Mt/yr.