August 2025

Italy: HeidelbergCement subsidiary Italcementi’s Chiaravagna concrete plant in Genoa, Liguria has received international sustainability certification from the Concrete Sustainability Council (CSC). The certificate, rating silver, acknowledges responsibly-sourced concrete across five categories: pre-requisites, management, environmental sustainability, social sustainability and economic sustainability. It aims to validate the entire process chain, from transportation to the recycling of raw materials.

The plant uses CEM-III ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) cement from Italcementi’s Novi Ligure grinding plant in Alessandria, made from clinker from the company’s Calusco d’Adda plant in Bergamo. The cement has specific CO₂ emissions of 500kg/t. It is supplying concrete for the reconstruction of the Morandi Bridge that collapsed in 2018.

Italcementi said, “This result adds to those already achieved by Italcementi and Calcestruzzi in terms of sustainability, such as the new range of Eco.build green concretes capable of meeting the requirements of green procurement, and the availability of the environmental product declaration (EPD) for different types of cement and concrete.”

Germany: Holcim Deutschland has reported the successful delivery of 280m³ of climate-neutral concrete to the NABU Conservation Centre Rheinauen in Bingen, Rheinland-Palatinate. The construction of the conservation centre by Karl Gemünden is scheduled for completion in 2021.

The concrete contains Holcim Duo 3 N CEM-III slag cement from Holcim Deutschland’s Dortmund slag plant in North-Rhine Westphalia. The company said, “Only select raw materials are used in the production of Holcim EcoPact Zero, which is mixed in optimal proportions in line with applicable norms.” Moorfutures offset 44t of CO₂ by deposition in Moorland in Schleswig Holstein to account for the EcoPact’s CO₂ emissions.

“We are proud of this first successful application of Holcim EcoPact Zero,” said Holcim Deutschland head of building materials technology Marc Holberg. “We look forward to many further climate-friendly projects!”

Colombia: Cementos Argos has joined other Grupo Argos companies in delivering food packages and parcels to 15,200 unemployed informal construction workers under the ‘A Call to Empathy’ campaign. On 15 May 2020 the campaign has already made 8,500 deliveries in 15 cities across 15 departments of Colombia. It makes use of door-to-door drops and pick-ups from collection points and allied retailers.

Cementos Argos estimates that 100,000 families will benefit from the initiative.

Canada: Haver & Boecker Niagara has launched a new service programme. Called PROcheck, the programme conducts operational analysis of screens used in raw materials processing. PROcheck reports to Haver & Boecker, which is then able to recommend to producers the best practices for raw materials processing proficiency. Haver & Boecker Niagara North America and Australia president Karen Thompson said, “By partnering with our customers through the PROcheck service programme, we are monitoring the efficiency of their screening process to identify potential problems early on.”

Thompson said, “We are experts at looking at the big picture,” “We engineer and manufacture both vibrating screens and screen media, and this gives us the insight to offer valuable advice producers won’t find elsewhere.”

Greece: Titan Cement has reported net losses after tax of Euro16.3m in the first quarter of 2020, up by 122% year-on-year from Euro7.34m in the first quarter of 2019. Revenue also increased, by 6.1% year-on-year to Euro385m from Euro363m. Titan Cement said, “Since mid-March 2020 the outbreak of the coronavirus had a significant, although unevenly distributed, impact on demand for our products. The early impact of the pandemic on our sector was less severe than what was initially feared. Construction has been deemed to be an essential service in most markets and all our cement plants continued their operations, adjusting their production to satisfy the current level of demand.”

Germany: ThyssenKrupp has reported a first-half net loss before tax for the fiscal year 1 October 2019 – 30 September 2020 of Euro743m compared to a profit of Euro45.0m for the first half of the previous fiscal year. Net sales fell by 3.0% year-on-year to Euro19.8bn from Euro20.4bn. The period brought a medium-sized cement line order from the US and a low-CO₂ calcined clays cement plant order from Cameroon. As a result of the coronavirus crisis, ThyssenKrupp has cut 3000 jobs on a short-to medium-term basis.

ThyssenKrupp chief financial officer (CFO) Klaus Keysburg said, “Irrespective of the current difficult environment, we are convinced that the Steel Strategy 2030 is the right response to the enormous challenges facing the steel sector.”

Sweden: The Committee for European Construction Equipment (CECE) and the Swedish Association for Construction Equipment (SACE) have announced that the CECE Congress will take place on 8 October 2020 via livestream from Stockholm. CECE said, “In the world of digitalisation, acknowledging the unprecedented situation that the COVID-19 outbreak has imposed on Europe, we present to you a digital CECE Congress.” CECE said that the event would be of interest to anyone involved in the cement industry. Attendance is free of charge.

Many of the first quarter financial results are in from the multinational cement producers and a few points are worth discussing. As usual a few caveats are worth mentioning such as seasonal and geographical variations between companies, such as producers in the northern hemisphere experiencing a generally slower period. It’s also worth noting that this is a selective look at some of the larger cement producers as not all of them release detailed figures at this stage and others have been delayed. However, the economic effects of the coronavirus lockdowns are clearly showing an effect in a kind of wave as the pandemic has spread.

Graph 1: Sales revenues in the first quarter of 2020 from selected cement producers. Source: Company financial reports.

Graph 1 above shows the effects of the earlier lockdown in China upon the results of the Chinese producers like CNBM, Anhui Conch and China Resources Cement (CRC). What’s interesting with these companies is that they have all suffered revenue hits of 20 – 25%. Huaxin Cement, a producer based in Hubei province near Wuhan where the Chinese lockdown was strictest, is not shown in Graph 1 but its revenue fell by 35% in the first quarter. See GCW452 for more on coronavirus effects on the Chinese cement industry.

Looking more widely, both LafargeHolcim and HeidelbergCement suffered declines of around 10%. This is somewhat misleading as both companies are constantly selling assets making the like-for-like results not quite as bad, particularly in the case of LafargeHolcim with its South-East Asian divestments. Although note this week that LafargeHolcim’s deal to sell its majority stake in Holcim Philippines lapsed this week due to the local competition regulator not granting permission in time. Yet, they are also beneficiaries and victims to an extent of their wide geographical spread with worse performance in Asia and better results in North America. For a fuller look at LafargeHolcim’s first quarter results see last week’s column. The rest of the producers featured generally reflect their tighter market spread with Buzzi Unicem particularly benefiting from the relatively untouched market in the US. Shree Cement, an Indian producer, escaped relatively unscathed, possibly as the Indian lockdown only started in late March 2020. All eyes will be on the results of UltraTech Cement, the largest producer in India, when they finally emerge.

Graph 2: Cement sales volumes in the first quarter of 2020 from selected cement producers. Source: Company financial reports.

Cement sales volumes tell a similar story, although a few different companies are featured in Graph 2. Note CRC’s year-on-year fall of 26% to 11.2Mt in the first quarter. It’s the only larger Chinese cement producer that we’ve found so far that has released sales volumes. Semen Indonesia is interesting too because its figures jumped in January 2020 as its acquisition of Holcim Indonesia only went on the books in February 2019. It’s February and March sales volumes have each been 4 - 5% down year-on-year but it’s far from clear whether this is due to general production overcapacity in the country or from the global health crisis. Despite this, its export volumes from both the mainland and its TLCC subsidiary in Vietnam have held up well. Unfortunately though, its performance in Vietnam may be an outlier if data from the General Department of Vietnam Customs is to be believed this week. It indicated that overall cement exports from the country fell by 9.7% year-on-year to 7.73Mt in the first quarter of 2020. Cementos Argos is also worth looking at as it suffered from the government lockdown in Colombia despite having an international presence in the Caribbean and the US.

Most of the world’s largest cement producers are preparing for the economic shockwaves from lockdowns to hit balance sheets in the second quarter of 2020. Many have said exactly this and have paraded their liquidity levels in preparation. Alongside this the results of the Chinese producers in the next quarter may offer some light on what kind of recovery is possible from easing lockdown measures. Yet the risk of second waves of infections from coronavirus potentially jeopardises any kind of fast or easy recovery without a vaccine. Today’s news that Cemex is considering mothballing its integrated plant at South Ferriby in the UK has been blamed on an analysis of the company’s European cement supply chain. The company says it is not related to coronoavirus but it does suggest the company is making savings.

This week has seen international press coverage return to Wuhan, China and South Korea where small numbers of infections have started to build despite being thought mostly eradicated. No one wants the so-called ‘W’ economic recovery with its rollercoaster ride of crests and dips or indeed the ‘L’ with its slow tail of recovery. Yet, for better or for worse, some form of normality has to return after the lockdowns end. The UK, for example, the country with the worst death rate from coronanvirus in Europe, has allowed its construction workers to pick up tools this week. If and when they can do so in the UK and everywhere else without causing the basic reproduction number (R₀) to rise then the future starts to look a little brighter.

Nigeria: Lafarge Africa has appointed Adebode Adefioye as its new chairman with effect from 4 June 2020. He succeeds Mobolaji Balogun, who has decided to retire from the role.

Adefioye, a non-executive director of the company, is the chairman of the board finance and strategy committee, chairman of the board property optimisation committee and a member of the nominations, governance and remuneration committee. He has also served on the statutory audit committee and the risk management and ethics committee.

Adefioye holds over 32 years experience in different industries and is a graduate of the University of Lagos with Masters of Science degree. He is a member of the Institute of Directors and the Institute of Public Analysts of Nigeria. He was appointed to the board of directors in late 2012 and currently sits on the boards of Wema Bank and Eterna. He also resides on the governing council of Bank Directors Association in Nigeria. Adefioye will step down from all board committees of Lafarge Africa on assumption of the role as chairman of the board.

Balogun has worked for Lafarge Africa for over 15 years, having joined the board in 2005. He served for the first 10 years as a non-executive director and was appointed chairman in mid-2015.

India: KCP has appointed Indira Dutt as its chairperson and managing director following approval by its shareholders. She succeeds V L Dutt, who died in February 2020, according to the Press Trust of India.

Indira Dutt holds a B.A. in economics from Madras University. She holds a number of directorships including Fives Cail - KCP Limited, Velagapudi Foundation, KCP Vietnam Industries Limited and V Ramakrishna Sons Private Limited. She was also the chairperson (CSR) member of finance committee and risk management committees of KCP. She is the president of the World Telugu Federation and Chairperson of Andhra Chamber of Commerce.

KCP is a conglomerate with businesses in the cement, heavy engineering, sugar and power industries. It operates two integrated cement plants in Andhra Pradesh.