August 2025

France: Lafarge France has appointed Alexandre Duca as its chief financial officer. He will report to Xavier Guesnu, the CEO of the subsidiary of Holcim.

Duca has worked for Lafarge since 2000 when he started working as a management assistant at the Cruas lime plant. He later joined the financial control team for Lafarge in 2008 before working in Russia in 2011 as Director of Management Control. Following the merger with Holcim in 2015, he was appointed as Regional Financial Controller for Asia in 2016 and then for Europe in 2019. He then became the CFO of Lafarge Cement and Geocycle France in 2021. Duca is a graduate from the University of Paris-Dauphine.

Spain: Molins announced a revenue of €1bn for the first nine months of 2024, down by 5% year-on-year, impacted by lower volumes and currency fluctuations. Particularly in Argentina, economic instability and currency devaluation affected performance. Net profit rose by 23% year-on-year to €153m, while earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) totalled €274m, a decrease of 1% from the corresponding period in 2023. 

Portugal: Cimpor has presented its decarbonisation plan during a visit from the Portuguese Minister of Economy, Pedro Reis, to its Alhandra cement plant. The plan involves a €360m investment across Cimpor’s Alhandra, Souselas and Loulé plants to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Current projects at the Alhandra plant include a €110m investment in alternative fuels and two €35m investments in a replacement mill and new clinker cooler. The company estimates a CO₂ emissions reduction of 190,000t/yr and a 16GWh energy saving. Similar initiatives are underway at the Souselas plant, such as the conversion of a kiln to produce calcined clays, which could reportedly cut 70,000t/yr of CO₂.

Cevat Mert, CEO of Cimpor for Portugal and Cape Verde, said “We are committed to investing in Portugal for the environment, sustainability and technology, and our projects are going at full speed. I would like to emphasise that the government´s infrastructure investments, support and incentives, particularly for the environment and sustainability, need to gain further momentum, and we trust in the minister’s support on prioritising this matter. I am confident that together we will continue to build a cement sector that Portugal can be proud of.”

US: Eagle Materials' quarterly revenues hit US$624m in the first half of the 2025 financial year, with net earnings of US$144m and earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of US$242m. The company’s cement revenues dropped by 2% year-on-year, to US$353m, resulting in a 5% fall in its operating earnings from cement, to US$116m, exacerbated by increased maintenance costs. Cement sales volume declined by 5% year-on-year to 2Mt, affected by adverse weather in Texas in July 2024 and Eastern US markets in September 2024.

UK: Heidelberg Materials UK has launched evoBuild, a global brand for low-carbon and circular cement, ready-mixed concrete, aggregates and asphalt products, in line with its parent company's sustainability strategy. According to the company, EvoBuild products either reduce CO₂ emissions by at least 30% or incorporate at least 30% recycled content.

This launch complements evoZero, the ‘world's first carbon-captured net-zero cement’, launched by Heidelberg Materials in November 2023. All eligible products from Heidelberg Materials UK will be integrated into the evoBuild portfolio ‘over the coming years.’

Saudi Arabia: Yamama Cement Company recorded sales of US$76m and net income of US$26.1m for the third quarter of 2024. This marks a rise of 35% and 140% respectively from US$56.5m in sales and US$10.9m in net income in the corresponding period in 2023.

Mexico: Cemex recorded an earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of US$747m in the third quarter of 2024, down by 9% year-on-year, with net sales falling by 3% to US$4.09bn. This period was influenced by adverse weather and foreign exchange movements, according to the company. Net income for the quarter more than tripled year-on-year to reach US$406m.

Compared to the corresponding period in 2023, sales in Mexico fell by 5% to US$1.14bn, while sales in the US decreased by 4% to US$1.34bn. In South and Central America and the Caribbean, sales declined by 1% to US$311m. Conversely, sales in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region rose by 1% to US$1.24bn.

Afghanistan: The Ministry of Mines and Petroleum has signed a US$163m contract for the construction of a cement plant in northern Jawzjan province. The plant will produce 3000t/day of cement under a 30-year contract and is expected to employ about 1200 local people.

In an attempt to become self-sufficient in its cement production, the Ministry has also recently signed contracts worth US$476m with domestic and international companies across Parwan, Kandahar and Herat provinces.

Kenya: Mining and Blue Economy Cabinet Secretary Hassan Ali Joho has ordered the closure of the Simba Cement plant in Kilifi County due to pollution concerns. Residents have reported issues from stone blasting and dust, with one resident reporting that early morning blasting has caused ‘cracks’ in their house and exposed families to respiratory diseases, according to the Kenyan Post newspaper. It was also reported that the company has allegedly displaced residents to expand its mining operations.

Zimbabwe: The government is looking at consolidating limestone deposits as part of the new Zimbabwe Industrial Reconstruction and Growth Plan. This plan aims to increase domestic clinker production so that ‘costly’ clinker imports are reduced, according to The Zimbabwean newspaper. The government hopes that the consolidation plan will stabilise the raw material supply chain, providing cement manufacturers with a steady source of limestone to meet demand without production interruptions. Zimbabwe’s cement industry reportedly has an installed capacity of 2.6Mt/yr, but only produces 1.65Mt/yr, with imports exceeding US$59m in 2023. The national demand is estimated at 1.8Mt/yr.

In order to support domestic production, the plan recommends increasing the cement import licence fee from US$100 to US$500 per 30t and reducing the electricity tariff from US$0.16/kWh to US$0.10/kWh.