August 2025

Italy: Cementir Holding has disclosed its financial results for the first quarter of 2024, showing a mixed performance. While the company saw growth in volumes compared to 2023, with cement up 2.3%, ready-mixed concrete up 3.7% and aggregates up 8.9%, financial metrics indicated some challenges.

Revenue for the quarter stood at €368m, marking an 11.2% decrease from €415m in the same period of 2023. Similarly, earnings before interest, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 18.1% year-on-year to €66.5m, down from €81.2m in the first quarter of 2023. The company's profit before taxes also declined by 8.2% year-on-year to €58.7m from €63.9m. However, Cementir Holding reported net cash of €76.6m, a substantial increase from a net financial debt of €32.1m as of 31 March 2023.

India: Top executives from major cement manufacturers project stable prices and decreased costs for the fiscal year 2024-25 (FY25), with some anticipating moderate growth in demand. This follows an estimated 8-9% growth in cement demand for the FY24 in India.

During a recent post-earnings call, Atul Daga, CFO UltraTech Cement, said "Our belief is that the slowdown should be shorter than in earlier years, primarily because private sector housing has also picked up momentum."

UK: C-Capture has initiated a carbon capture trial at Heidelberg Materials’ Ketton cement works in Rutland, as part of its national 'XLR8 CCS' project aimed at accelerating low-cost carbon capture solutions in industries like cement and glass. The trial utilises C-Capture’s technology, which employs a solvent to selectively capture CO₂ from emissions. According to the company, this process does not rely on the use of amines, therefore requiring 40% less energy than conventional methods and reduces costs. The carbon capture solvent compatibility unit designed by C-Capture and partner Wood will test the effectiveness of this technology in removing CO₂ from flue gas emissions produced during the cement manufacturing process.

XLR8 CCS is funded with €2m from the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero’s €1.2bn Net Zero Innovation Portfolio. The funding is part of the €23m Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage (CCUS) Innovation 2.0 programme aimed at accelerating the deployment of next-generation CCUS technology in the UK. Additional private sector contributions support a €3.1m total.

C-Capture CEO Tom White said "Decarbonising industry is one of the most pressing global issues. C-Capture’s XLR8 CCS project is a critical step in the race to net zero as we work with our innovative technology and leading industry partners to demonstrate that an affordable carbon capture solution is a reality – even for industries that are difficult to decarbonise. We are incredibly proud to be working with our project partners which have strong commitments to decarbonisation and are early adopters of novel carbon capture technology."

Simon Willis, CEO of Heidelberg Materials UK said “Carbon capture is a critical part of our strategy to decarbonise cement production and essential if we are to reach net zero and help our customers achieve their own decarbonisation goals. Our venture with C-Capture is another example of our commitment to developing new technologies and, if successful, has the potential to be rolled out at other sites across the Heidelberg Materials Group.”

Ukraine: The cost to rebuild Ukraine post-war is projected at US$487bn, according to a report commissioned by the United States Agency for International Development. The report states that to support the reconstruction, Ukraine must produce 15-16Mt/yr of cement for three years, a significant increase from current capacities. Protectionist measures in place since 2019 have restricted cement imports and a decline in production and a shrinking market could lead to an increase in construction costs, according to the Kyiv Independent.

Amid these projections, CRH, which operates three plants in Ukraine, announced in summer 2023 that it aims to purchase two more from Buzzi's subsidiary Dyckerhoff. This deal is valued at €100m, with the company stressing the importance of its investments in Ukrainian cement plants to boost the country’s domestic production to 15Mt/yr, according to Forbes Ukraine. The deal is reportedly under scrutiny by Ukraine's Anti-Monopoly Committee due to market concentration concerns, which could drive up cement prices and overall reconstruction costs.

Serhiy Pylypenko, CEO of the Ukrainian building supplies firm Kovalska, Ukraine’s largest cement user, said “We need more players and to diversify the market instead of making it more compact because the competition is very weak. Market concentration allows uncontrolled pricing and the cost of construction and the cost of recovery to skyrocket."

Brazil: Cement sales in April 2024 totalled 5.1Mt, up by 12% year-on-year. Compared to March 2024, sales rose by 4%, as reported by the National Cement Industry Union (SNIC). April 2024 sales have increased following a forecasted rise despite earlier climate-related impacts.

President of SNIC, Paulo Camillo Penna, said "After two consecutive years of falling sales and idle capacity of around 35%, the Brazilian cement industry hopes to reverse this performance, influenced by progress in housing and infrastructure projects. The sector is betting on the growing use of cement and concrete in road and urban paving, as municipalities and states such as Santa Catarina, Paraná, Goiás, Maranhão, Ceará, São Paulo and the Federal District are leading the way in the use of these inputs."

Barbados: Trinidad Cement, owners of Arawak Cement Company, noted a decline in the Barbados cement market in 2023, according to its annual report.

Managing director Francisco Aguilera Mendoza said "In Barbados, the overall market declined by 14.3%, of which Arawak Cement Company experienced a decline of 8.8% in domestic cement volumes compared to 2022. Trinidad and Tobago’s cement export volume fell by almost 11% when compared to 2022, due to supply chain constraints and an increase in the local market demand. This drop in cement exports was almost fully compensated by our clinker exports to Barbados that started in 2023 after Arawak Cement’s change in its operating model.”

Saudi Arabia: Cement sales in Saudi Arabia recorded a 12.5% increase in April 2024 to 2.92Mt, up from 2.6Mt in 2023, despite the impact of Ramadan. This is according to a report by Aljazira Capital. However, cement exports saw a significant decrease, dropping by 30% year-on-year to 554,000t from 790,000t. Additionally, clinker inventories reached 43.4Mt in April 2024, marking an 18% year-on-year increase and a 3% rise from March 2024.

Kenya-based East African Portland Cement (EAPCC) made the news this week with the reopening of the company’s Athi River cement plant after a month-long shutdown. The closure was conspicuous because the company is gradually working towards increasing the integrated plant’s production capacity. The first phase of the maintenance and upgrade project saw the replacement of the production line’s kiln shell in September 2022. The current aim is to increase the unit’s cement production capacity to 1Mt/yr by mid-2026. The recent shutdown appears to have been a more normal annual renewal and repair job but EAPCC has used it as a promotional opportunity. Notably, a spokesperson for EAPCC described clinker as the “new gold” in a recent video explaining what was going on.

It’s an improvement on the financial trouble EAPC found itself stuck within in the late 2010s before the government ended up taking a controlling share in the cement producer. On this front local media reported in July 2023 that the government had found a 'strategic investor' to buy a 30% stake in the company. Nothing more has been said on this topic since then though.

The highlighting of the recent shutdown is likely to be a public relations exercise intended to project stability, but that focus on clinker is telling given that the government introduced its Export and Investment Promotion Levy in July 2023. This legislation imposed a 17.5% fee on imported clinker in order to encourage the local industry. Cement producers that rely on imported clinker - including Rai Cement, Bamburi Cement, Savannah Cement, Ndovu Cement and Riftcot - attempted to lobby against the levy but it remains in place. This business environment helps to explain EAPCC’s renewed focus on clinker production.

One company that stands to benefit from the levy is National Cement, producer of the Simba Cement brand and a subsidiary of Devki Group. It made the news at the start of April 2024 when its subsidiary Cemtech commissioned a 6000t/day clinker plant at Sebit in West Pokot. National Cement already operates an integrated plant near Athi River, south of Nairobi. However, hot on the heels of the West Pokot plant, it is already considering building another integrated plant in the north of Kitui County, to the east of Nairobi. As reported in the local press this week, Cemtech has submitted an environmental impact assessment for the project to the local authorities.

The country has two other clinker producers: Holcim subsidiary Bamburi Cement and Mombasa Cement. The former company announced at the end of 2023 that it had signed a contract to build solar plants at its integrated plant in Mombasa and its grinding plant in Nairobi. The deal was framed as a money saver but additionally it may have been in response to a less than reliable local grid. It also said that it was removing Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) from its product line from the start of 2024. This move challenged expectations about sustainability initiatives outside of richer countries. Yet, considering how Bamburi Cement argued against the clinker levy, there might have been some commercial thinking here too in order to sell products that use less clinker. Finally, despite completing its divestment of Uganda-based subsidiary Hima Cement for US$84m in March 2024, Bamburi Cement reported a loss of US$2.99m in 2023 compared to a profit of US$1.36m in 2022. Although it reported a rise in turnover and operating profit, it appears that taxes and legal costs related to the sale of Hima dragged the company into a loss.

Graph 1: Rolling annual cement production in Kenya, 2019 - September 2023. Source: Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).

It’s been a difficult business environment in Kenya over the last decade given the number of companies that have faced serious financial difficulties. This list includes ARM Cement, EAPCC and Savannah Cement. The last of these companies, Savannah Cement, is currently in administration and is trying to sell its integrated plant. Yet, rolling annual cement production in Kenya has remained above 9.5Mt/yr since early 2022. The government is sticking to promoting local clinker production, and companies like Bamburi Cement, EAPCC and National Cement are making investments of varying scales. The focus, for now at least, is on clinker production in Kenya.

Oman: The Financial Services Authority has reconstituted the board of directors of Raysut Cement. It has appointed Shabib Mohammed Al Darmaki as its chair with Naser Jumaa Al Zadjali, Badr Awad Al Shanfari, Ali Rashid Ali Al Shuhi and Abdulhameed Ahmed Al Balushi as members. The new board is intended to follow the role of the previous board by completing the “reorganisation and restructuring of the company and fine-tune its governance to ensure stability of its financial and operational positions to correct its path to ensure sustainable performance and protect the interest of all the shareholders and enhance the stability of the market.”

In December 2022 the Capital Market Authority (CMA) replaced the board of directors of Raysut Cement and appointed a temporary one following a financial audit. This followed the CMA publicly questioning the validity of the company’s third quarter results in 2022 when it detected ‘material misrepresentation.’

Morocco: The Moroccan Cement Association (APC) has elected Said El Hadi as its president. He succeeds Khalid Cheddadi in the role, according to Les Echo newspaper. El Hadi is the president of LafargeHolcim Maroc. The APC represents cement producers in the country including Asment Temara, Atlas Cements, Ciments du Maroc, LafargeHolcim Maroc and Novacim. The members of the association operate 14 plants with a production capacity of over 24Mt/yr.