August 2025

Chile: Cement Polpaico has reported the resignation of Andrés Segú Undurraga from his position as a director of the company, as well his deputy José Tomás Edwards Alcalde. Both resignations were effective from 21 April 2023.

The board of directors agreed to appoint Alejandro Gevert Detto as Segú's replacement, who will serve until the next ordinary shareholders' meeting of the company, at which time the board of directors must be completely renewed.

Ireland: CRH has reported a ‘positive’ start to 2023, with first quarter sales and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) ahead of its own expectations.

In a trading update chief executive officer Albert Manifold said “We had a positive start to the year in a seasonally quiet trading period. While some adverse weather conditions were experienced in the first quarter, sales and EBITDA were ahead, underpinned by the continued execution of our integrated solutions strategy and further commercial progress across our markets.”

In its Americas Materials Solutions business unit, CRH’s sales were 10% ahead of the first quarter of 2022, driven by robust pricing which more than offset the impact of unfavourable weather on activity levels in certain markets during this seasonally less significant quarter.

In Europe, like-for-like sales were 6% ahead of the first quarter of 2022 due to strong pricing momentum across all products and regions. Activity levels were impacted by less favourable weather conditions compared to the same period in 2022. Unfavourable currency exchange effects resulted in total sales being 1% behind 2022.

Manifold added, “Looking ahead, despite some ongoing macroeconomic uncertainties and an inflationary cost environment, we expect first-half sales, EBITDA and margin to be ahead of the prior year period.”

Mexico: The construction materials producer GCC reported double-digit growth in its first quarter results, driven by higher prices for its products in Mexico and the US. Its operating earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the first three months of 2023 rose by 16% year-on-year compared to the same period in 2022 to reach US$63m, while revenues rose by 18% to US$243.9m.

"GCC delivered solid results in the first quarter," said Enrique Escalante, GCC’s chief executive officer. "High demand continues and we are leveraging all of GCC's resources to ensure we deliver the highest profits and strengthen our margins."

The growth in revenue was driven by higher ready-mixed concrete (RMC) sales volumes in the US, which were 27% higher than in 2022, and 11% higher cement and RMC volumes in Mexico. GCC also noted an increase in cement and RMC prices of 21% and 6%, respectively, in the US, while in Mexico the increases were 13% for cement and 11% for ready-mix.

Mozambique/South Africa: InterCement, a Brazil-based cement producer controlled by Mover (formerly Camargo Corrêa), has started to receive offers for its assets in South Africa and Mozambique. The US-based bank JP Morgan is advising the company on structuring the group’s business in Africa. The value of the deal has been estimated at around US$300m.

The company previously announced the sale of its Egyptian unit in January 2023, undertaken to reduce its debt, which has come under pressure from rising global interest rates. The company must refinance US$548m in senior notes by May 2024, which were previously raised when InterCement acquired Portugal’s Cimpor through Camargo Corrêa in 2010.

InterCement sold 17.8Mt of cement in 2022 excluding the Egyptian unit.

Spain: Cement consumption grew by 4% in Catalonia in the first quarter of 2023 to reach almost 600,000t. This slight improvement after the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic reflects continued pessimism in the autonomous region’s construction sector. This has been accentuated in recent months by the stoppage of real estate developments due to the uncertainty that inflation causes in costs and the increase in the price of money, which has slowed down the granting of mortgages.

While an 8.3% year-on-year improvement in sales was seen in March 2023, a large portion of this this improvement is due to artificially low consumption in March 2022 when there was a cement trucker strike.

India: More than 75 representatives from academic institutions and businesses from across the world are attending the Innovandi Global Cement and Concrete Research Network (GCCRN) Spring Week taking place in New Delhi. The GCCRN has brought together 450 researchers and scientists from more than 40 universities and institutions, including the EPFL in Switzerland, South East University in China, University of Toronto in Canada, the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, the University of Cape Town, Imperial College London in the UK, as well as 35 cement and concrete manufacturers and their suppliers. The focus of the conference is to work towards reaching net-zero CO₂ concrete production, including sourcing and improving alternatives to clinker, work on calcined clays, concrete recycling – plus its carbonation and durability - as well as kiln electrification and carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS).

Claude Loréa, the Innovation and ESG Director at the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA), said “Global Innovation collaboration and research will help unlock our industry’s decarbonisation mission. Spring Week is the key date in the GCCA’s Innovandi calendar. It provides an opportunity for our partners to meet face-to-face, exchange ideas, run workshops, and measure progress on key research projects in line with our industry’s 2050 Net Zero Roadmap. Our industry and our key partners are stepping up to the challenge and it’s fantastic to see the progress on some of the 75 PhD candidates supported by the GCCRN.”

The event is also updating attendees about progress made by projects involved with the Innovandi Open Challenge. This initiative matches start-ups with GCCA member companies from around the world, to help scale up research and technical innovation. Two of the six start-ups selected in 2022 at the first ever Innovandi Open Challenge, which focused mainly on carbon capture and utilisation, have already gone to pilot stage. Applications for the second challenge, which focuses on low carbon concrete, close on 15 May 2023.

The GCCRN was set up by the GCCA, a lobbying group representing more than 80% of the world’s cement and concrete manufacturers outside of China. All GCCA member companies are committed to decarbonising the industry by the mid-21st Century, in line with the GCCA’s Concrete Future 2050 Net Zero Roadmap.

UK: Thermoteknix Systems, a global manufacturer of infrared and thermal imaging systems for the cement industry, has been presented with the King’s Award for Enterprise, recognising significant and sustained growth in the company’s international trade. Overseas sales for the company grew by 173% in a three-year period across key markets including North America, Europe and Asia.

Thermoteknix has been a multiple recipient of the public accolade awarded to UK business, having previously won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise: International Trade once and the Queen’s Award for Enterprise: Innovation twice. The awards have been renamed following the accession of King Charles III, emphasising his desire to continue the legacy of Queen Elizabeth II in celebrating the achievements of outstanding UK businesses each year, which she began in 1965.

Commenting on winning the first King’s Award honour, founder and managing director of Thermoteknix, Richard Salisbury said “We are extremely honoured to receive this award and would like to acknowledge the hard work and commitment shown by our whole team in delivering outstanding results for our customers around the world in what continues to be fast-changing and challenging markets made all the more onerous during the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Founded in 1982, Thermoteknix has sustained continued growth from its Cambridge headquarters, manufacturing and supplying advanced thermal imaging solutions to defence and security markets, and process monitoring. Thermoteknix successfully exports to more than 70 countries around the world.

Paul Douglas, Production Technician at Thermoteknix, is part of the team on site at the company's UK manufacturing facilities who prepare the Thermoteknix kiln shell scanners, and kiln and cooler cameras for delivery to Cement plant customers around the world.

US: Germany-based Heidelberg Materials has entered into a definitive purchase agreement to acquire The SEFA Group Inc., the largest fly ash recycling company in the US. Based in Lexington, South Carolina, the operations of The SEFA Group include five business units, five utility partners, 20 locations and more than 500 employees. The group currently supplies quality fly ash to more than 800 concrete plants in 13 states.

Heidelberg Materials said that the reuse of fly ash from energy generation in alternative products such as composite cements enhances its circularity efforts within its value chain by reducing the CO₂ emissions of its cement and concrete. The transaction is anticipated to close in June 2023.

“Fostering circularity by increasing the use of by-products and recycled materials from other industrial sectors is an essential part of our strategy,” said Dr Dominik von Achten, Chairman of the Managing Board at Heidelberg Materials. “Our focus is on rapidly and significantly reducing our CO₂ emissions and The SEFA Group will make an outstanding contribution in this regard to our US business.”

UK: MOF Technologies, a Northern Ireland-based company whose technology efficiently captures CO₂ directly from industrial sources, is rebranding to Nuada. The new name is an ode to the company’s Celtic origins and is inspired by the ancient mythical king, Nuada, whose name means ‘to capture.’

Nuada says that its next-generation ‘heatless’ technology is ‘redefining carbon (CO₂) capture,’ slashing the energy penalty and costs associated with CO₂ capture.

Nuada has combined advanced solid adsorbents, named MOFs, with proven vacuum swing technology to enable the separation of CO₂ from flue gas using pressure instead of heat. This ‘heatless’ system represents a step change in innovation that slashes the energy penalty and cost associated with carbon capture, the main barriers for mass adoption in industry.

The company says that the new branding and direction have come at a critical time as the world is sprinting to decarbonise and mitigate the impacts of climate change. This is particularly the case in hard-to-abate industries like cement production, where carbon capture is essential to reaching Net Zero targets.

Georgia: Heidelberg Materials has completed the divestment of its joint venture in Georgia. It previously held a 45% state in CaucasusCement Holding BV (CCH), the parent company of HeidelbergCement Georgia Ltd and Terjola Quarry Ltd, Tbilisi.

Heidelberg Materials sold its share to its long-term joint venture partner Cement Invest BV, an investment company that is jointly managed and owned by the Georgian Co-Investment Fund and Hunnewell Partners. The joint venture’s scope included two integrated cement plants, 14 ready-mixed concrete plants and two aggregates plants. The partners agreed to not disclose the financial terms of the transaction.

Heidelberg Materials said that these latest steps reflect its continued simplification of its country portfolio and would help to position the company as front runner on the path to Net Zero and circularity in the building materials industry.