Half-year financial results from some of the major cement producers outside of China show a general positive trend in 2026 to-date. The North American market is still delivering for these companies but the focus on growth for some has shifted to aggregates. Elsewhere in the world, in developing markets, the effects of geopolitical events in the Middle East are having an effect on balance sheets. Read on for our round-up.
Figure 1: Sales of selected major multinational cement producers in first half of 2026. Source: Company financial reports. Note: Figures calculated for Indian companies.
CRH’s sales in the first half of 2026 benefited from its acquisition of Eco Material Technologies in 2025 and higher prices for aggregates. Cement sales volumes in its Americas Materials Solutions division grew but pricing slowed. Both cement volumes and prices increased in the group’s international division outside of North America. Sales volumes of aggregates were high (above 5%) everywhere. CEO Jim Mintern pointedly described the company as the “leading aggregates and critical infrastructure player in North America” in the second quarter results in connection to the June 2025 announcement that it is buying Arcosa for US$8.5bn.
Heidelberg Materials’ sales revenue from cement fell slightly in most regions with the exception of North America. Sales of aggregates, ready-mixed concrete and asphalt rose. In Europe, the group’s largest area, it said that for cement “construction activity remains subdued as a result of higher interest rates, a decline in real purchasing power and a significant rise in construction costs.” Cement and clinker volumes in North America grew modestly with a significant increase in the Midwest US and a moderate decline in the Northwest region. Cement and clinker volumes in the group’s Africa-Mediterranean-Western Asia group area fell slightly and this was attributed to poor market conditions in certain countries.
Holcim reported organic growth of 5% year-on-year in the first half of 2026. However, like-for-like sales barely rose. This was due to the divestment of Amrize in June 2025. The acquisitions of Cementos Pacasmayo and Xella in the first half of 2026 were insufficient to compensate much so far. Encouragingly, much of that organic growth came from the sale of building materials. The group’s largest geographic area by revenue, Europe, reported sales driven by markets in Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Greece and East Europe, with help from its acquisition of precast concrete producer Alkern in January 2026. Its Asia, Middle East & Africa segment was noticeably smaller in the first half of 2026 due to the sale of Lafarge Africa in mid-2025. Volumes did rise in Türkiye, where the company increased its stake in subsidiary Akçansa to 79% from 40% in June 2026.
Cemex enjoyed a strong first half with sales, earnings and cement volumes driven by good performance in Mexico. It attributed this to rising demand, cost cutting and a “pricing strategy designed to offset input cost inflation." Sales were up elsewhere but earnings fell in the US. This was blamed on rising material and freight costs, as well as bad weather in Texas. In Europe the group singled out promising cement sales volumes in Spain and the Czech Republic. It also said that the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), along with the reduction in allowances, “have been and should continue to be supportive of higher prices.”
Of the other companies covered, UltraTech Cement reported sales growth of 16% year-on-year to US$2.57bn in the first quarter of its 2027 financial year (to 30 June 2026). It noted that it had turned a net loss for its acquisition of The India Cements in the corresponding quarter in 2025 to a profit in the current one, demonstrating its “ability to rapidly stabilise, integrate and improve acquired assets.” Its cement sales volumes were up by 13% to 39.2Mt with a capacity utilisation rate of 81% from a local production capacity of around 200Mt/yr. The news it didn’t share so readily was that its costs grew by 16% in the most recent quarter compared to 8% last year. By contrast, Adani Cement’s main subsidiary Ambuja Cements did point out the effects of higher imported fuel costs, including petcoke and thermal coal, and logistics costs originating from “geopolitical developments in West Asia.” Both its sales volumes of cement and revenues fell in the first quarter of the 2027 financial year. It further warned of peak fuel cost inflation in the second quarter. The company aims to fight this with cost cutting and efficiency savings.
Finally, Dangote Cement delivered a robust result in the first half of 2026 with its international markets rebounding. Inflation may have picked up at home in Nigeria but the company still managed to increase its sales volumes of cement by 8% to 9.7Mt. Volumes and revenue jumped up elsewhere but earnings were flat. The company also noted that exports of cement from Nigeria rose by 62% to 1.1Mt. It will be interesting to see whether this once more becomes an issue for Dangote Cement should the price of cement in Nigeria be deemed too high again in the court of public opinion.
That’s it for this selective view on the first half of 2026. We will follow this up in the coming weeks with a review of the situation in China.
