30 July 2025

US: CRH has announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Eco Material Technologies, a leading supplier of supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) in North America, for a total consideration of US$2.1bn. The business will subsequently operate as Eco Material Technologies, a CRH Company. CRH says that the deal positions it to meet growing demand for cementitious products for the modernisation of North America’s infrastructure and that it secures a long-term supply of critical materials in the region.

Eco Material is headquartered in Utah and operates a national network of fresh and harvested fly ash, pozzolans, synthetic gypsum and ‘green cement’ operations across a network of over 125 stockpiles, production facilities and terminals. The company partners with electric utilities to process and recycle approximately 7Mt/yr of fly ash and 3Mt/yr of synthetic gypsum and other materials, with additional capacity currently under construction.

The proposed transaction is subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions and is expected to close in 2025. CRH plans to fund the transaction with cash on hand and does not expect any change in its credit ratings.

Brazil: Mover, formerly Camargo Corrêa, has reached a preliminary agreement to sell InterCement to a group of the company’s creditors.

InterCement, currently the third-largest cement producer in Brazil by volume, filed for bankruptcy protection at the end of 2024 with a combined debt of US$2.6bn. Since then, the recovery plan has faced hurdles to gain approval, including opposition from US-based bondholders who objected to earlier agreements made while InterCement was still seeking out-of-court restructuring. They claimed conflicts of interest and preferential treatment for local creditors.

The company’s debt was previously held by three main banks: Itaú Unibanco, Banco do Brasil and Bradesco. However, in June 2025, a group of foreign creditors, along with Argentina-based Pampa Energía, acquired Itaú’s US$450m in InterCement debt, followed by Banco do Brasil’s US$310m. Bradesco has joined with the other creditors in the deal, meaning that the group now controls 100% of InterCement.

US: Eco Material Technologies, a marketer of supplementary cementitious materials and producer of green cement products in North America, has announced the opening of its new Lakeview Plant in southern Oregon. This milestone marks Eco Material’s first sustainably-built manufacturing hub in the Pacific Northwest.

Adjacent to Lake County's freight rail line, the Lakeview Plant can produce up to 0.3Mt/yr of low‑carbon cement replacements. By replacing 25 - 100% of traditional Portland cement in concrete mixes with Eco Material’s advanced supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) and proprietary ‘green cement’ blends, producers can reduce the carbon footprint of the cement portion of their concrete by up to 80%.

The Lakeview plant will create 30 permanent jobs, including skilled manufacturing roles and logistics positions. Approximately 75% of shipments will be distributed by rail using existing infrastructure.

“This facility represents more than just a new plant. It’s a powerful investment in Lake County’s future,” said Mark Albertson, Lake County Commissioner. “By pairing advanced, low-carbon building materials with local job creation and infrastructure development, Eco Material Technologies is bringing both economic vitality and environmental responsibility to our community. We’re proud to welcome this transformative project while creating a great partnership to benefit all of Lake County."

US: Eagle Materials recorded a record revenue of US$635m in the first quarter of the 2026 Fiscal Year (FY2026), a 4% year-on-year rise compared to the first quarter of FY2025. Its net earnings, however, fell by 8% to US$123m.
Commenting on the first quarter results, Michael Haack, president and CEO, said "Eagle had a solid start to FY2026. Against the current backdrop of ongoing macroeconomic and policy uncertainty as well as adverse weather conditions across many of our markets, our portfolio of businesses continued to perform well, and our end markets remained resilient.”

Revenue in the company’s Heavy Materials sector, which includes cement, concrete and aggregates, joint venture and intersegment cement revenues, increased by 5% to US$421m, primarily due to higher cement volumes and the contribution from a recently-acquired aggregates businesses in Western Pennsylvania and Northern Kentucky. Heavy Materials operating earnings decreased by 5% to US$87.3m, primarily due to higher cement production costs.

Cement sector revenue, including joint venture and intersegment revenue, was up 2% to US$348m, while cement sales volumes rose by 2% to 2.0Mt.

India: Cement production rose by 8% year-on-year across India in the first quarter of the 2026 Fiscal Year (FY2026), which ran from 1 April 2025 to 30 June 2025, according to ratings agency ICRA. Production rose to 120Mt for the three-month period, with June 2025 volumes 9% higher year-on-year than June 2024 at 41.3Mt. ICRA anticipates that volumes will grow by 6 - 7% year-on-year in FY2026, supported by sustained demand from the housing and infrastructure sectors. If realised, this would mean production of 480 - 485Mt in FY2026.

Italy: Cementir said that its first half results for 2025 were ‘in line’ with management expectations. The group reported revenues of €797m, a 1.9% year-on-year all compared to the same period of 2024. Its profit for the six-month period was €73.5m, a 24.2% fall.

The company reported higher revenues in its Nordic & Baltic region, as well as in Türkiye and Malaysia, although it faced foreign exchange related headwinds in Türkiye and Egypt. Cement sales volumes were broadly stable thanks, the company said, to growth in Türkiye, its Nordic & Baltic region and Malaysia. There was a decline in volumes sold in all its other regions.

The company said that its first half performance was impacted by a fire in the alternative fuel feeding system at its Gaurain plant in Belgium and technical issues during the restart of the second production line in Egypt, which led to a delay in restarting shipments.

India: HeidelbergCement India, part of Germany-based Heidelberg Materials, reported a standalone net profit of US$5.5m for the quarter ending 30 June 2025. This represented a 20.9% year-on-year rise compared to US$4.5m in the same period in 2024. The net revenue of the company rose by 12.3% to US$68.6m, while its operating profit surged by 13.4% to US$10.2m.

Saudi Arabia: Arabian Cement recorded a net profit of US$11.8m in the first half of 2025, a 46.9% year-on-year fall. The company’s revenues reached US$126m for the same period, a 16.9% rise. In the second quarter of 2025, Arabian Cement recorded a 20.1% lower net profit year-on-year at US$5.5m, despite a 32.9% increase in revenues to US$62.1m.

Morocco: Cement sales increased by 9.8% in the first half of 2025, according to the Department of Financial Studies and Forecasts (DEPF). Growth was driven by a 19.2% year-on-year rise in deliveries to ready-mix concrete companies, a 17.1% rise in sales to precast concrete producers, a 6.4% rise in infrastructure sales and a 6.1% rise in general distribution.

Uganda: A group of workers from Tororo Cement staged a protest on 28 July 2025, in which they demanded better pay and improved working conditions. The workers, mainly from the kiln section, called on management to increase their wages in light of the rising cost of living. They are also seeking to be considered for full-time employment and for improvements in workplace safety and conditions.

The protest was suspended after management offered a 10% salary increase, lower than the 17% initially proposed by the workers’ union. Patricia Chemutai, the company’s Human Resource Officer, expressed surprise at the demonstration, saying that negotiations had already been underway when the protests began. Chemutai noted that the disagreement stemmed from the union’s initial demand of a 30% salary increase, which management found ‘excessive.’