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A member of the Global Cement LinkedIn group recently posed a question about the relative sizes of LafargeHolcim and Nigeria's Dangote Cement in the African cement market. The correspondent wanted to get a handle on their relative sizes and how the situation would change as a result of the merger. Would Dangote lose its position as Africa's number one producer? If so, would its aggressive expansion allow it to regain its position at the number one spot?

As both one of the most rapidly-growing markets in the world for cement and the one with the most potential for future gains, Africa has been discussed in this column on many previous occasions. However, we have previously considered Africa's different regional markets, be it Dangote-dominated West Africa, North Africa, rapidly-growing East Africa or the far south, where PPC is looking to counter Dangote's growing strength.

However, the formation of LafargeHolcim and the news that HeidelbergCement will acquire Italcementi (starting with an immediate 45% stake), has massively consolidated the African market. In conjunction with Dangote's rapid development, these deals have transformed the African cement sector from one with a large number of small national and regional markets into a far more homogeneous entity. A number of key players, namely LafargeHolcim, Dangote Cement, HeidelbergCement and PPC, are present in numerous important markets all over the continent.

In answer to the aforementioned LinkedIn group member, the Global Cement Lafarge-Holcim Merger Report, states that LafargeHolcim controls 47.1Mt/yr of capacity in Africa. The new group is present in markets as diverse as Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa and Zimbabwe. It is currently Africa's largest cement producer.

The second-largest producer at the moment is Dangote Cement, the only African-based large multinational cement producer. According to its website, it has 31.2Mt/yr of capacity currently active in Africa. The group is rapidly expanding. "We hope to commission four other cement plants in Senegal, South Africa, Cameroon and Tanzania before the end of 2015," said Aiko Dangote, Dangote Group President this week.

The new Dangote capacity that we can identify adds 4Mt/yr. This takes Dangote's total to 35.2Mt/yr. This is close to the 37.1Mt/yr of African capacity that LafargeHolcim actually owns, but Dangote is always planning its next move. Indeed this week it was rumoured to have been looking at purchasing Italcementi itself, hence HeidelbergCement's rapid movement.

In its press-release, HeidelbergCement suggests that the purchase of Italcementi will give it a position as strong as Dangote in the African market at around 30Mt/yr. It will add strong positions in Morocco and Egypt to its existing strengths on the West African coast. For its part, South Africa-based PPC currently has around 8Mt/yr of capacity in South Africa (4Mt/yr), Botswana, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia. It is currently installing capacity in the Democratic Republic of Congo and as far afield as Algeria, where it is involved in a joint venture with a local group.

Between them, these 'Big Four' share approximately 116Mt/yr of capacity in Africa. According to the Global Cement Directory 2015, this is just over half of Africa's 225Mt/yr of cement production capacity. This proportion will only increase as Dangote and PPC enlarge their presences.

The multinational players will likely not expand as rapidly, even in Africa. At the launch of LafargeHolcim, Group CEO Eric Olsen was pretty clear that the company does not plan any 'capital-intensive' expansions in the coming years. HeidelbergCement's future actions are less predictable, especially as we are yet to hear about any divestments that may be required from HeidelbergCement and Italcementi in order to satisfy competition authorities around the world.

Whatever happens in the future, it is clear that the African cement industry has undergone a significant transformation in the past few weeks. With per-capita cement consumption far lower than on other continents, there will be plenty of room for growth as well as for more acquisitions, divestments, mergers and expansion projects from the 'Big Four' and others in the coming years.

Europe: The European Commission has decided to close an antitrust investigation opened in December 2010 against a number of European cement manufacturers including Cemex, Holcim and HeidelbergCement, according to Construction Europe.

Originally the cement companies were suspected by the EC of colluding with rivals to fix prices in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK. The commission said that there had been indications suggesting possible import/export restrictions, market sharing, price co-ordination and information exchanges in the markets for cement and related products. It said that inspections had been carried out in November 2008 and September 2009 at the premises of companies in Germany, France, the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Luxembourg and Spain.

The EC has now said that the evidence obtained in its investigation 'was not sufficiently conclusive to confirm these initial concerns,' adding 'the commission will continue to monitor closely developments in the European cement markets.'

The alleged cartel was said to have colluded in market sharing and price fixing in the markets for cement and cement-based materials such as ready-mix concrete, clinker, aggregates, blast-furnace slag, granulated blast-furnace slag, ground granulated blast-furnace slag and fly ash.

India: Orient Cement has reported a 20% year-on-year decline in its net profit to US$4.37m for the first quarter of its 2016 fiscal year, which ended 30 June 2015, on the back of fall in revenues. Total income from operations decreased by 8.69% to US$54.8m. However, its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin was stable at 17%, mainly due to lower raw material and power and fuel expenses. Orient Cement also announced that it has appointed Swapan Dasgupta as additional director in the category of Independent Director.

UK: Investment boutique Perella Weinberg Partners has hired LafargeHolcim co-chairman Wolfgang Reitzle as an advisory partner.

Reitzle, also a former chief executive of the German gas maker Linde and chairman of the supervisory board of German car supplier Continental, will provide counsel in a senior role to the investment firm and its clients, especially in Europe, according to Perella Weinberg. He will continue in his role at LafargeHolcim.

Reitzle has had previous dealings with Perella Weinberg Partners; Holcim appointed Perella Weinberg banker Dietrich Becker to renegotiate the terms of its merger with Lafarge. "Reitzle has an exceptional track record of successfully managing growth across a variety of industries," said Joseph Perella, co-founder and chairman of Perella Weinberg Partners.

Zambia: Nigeria's Dangote Cement opened its US$400m cement plant in Masaiti, Zambia on 4 August 2015, signalling its increasingly international ambitions as it plans new investments across Africa. The plant is expected to produce 1.5Mt/yr of cement per year once it is fully operational, creating at least 1000 direct jobs and 6000 indirectly.

"We hope to commission four other cement plants in Senegal, South Africa, Cameroon and Tanzania before the end of 2015," said Aiko Dangote, Dangote Group president. "We have decided to invest in 16 countries across the continent because we believe that Africa's future is linked to cement."

Europe: LafargeHolcim has decided to initiate a squeeze-out process for all issued and outstanding shares of Lafarge. After surpassing the necessary 95% threshold in the share capital and voting rights and following a decision by the board of directors, LafargeHolcim plans to request that the AMF implement a squeeze-out procedure pursuant to their general regulations for Lafarge shares not tendered to the Public Exchange Offer. LafargeHolcim will publish further details on the squeeze-out upon filing with the AMF.

Mexico: Cemex has completed the refinancing of a bank loan agreement, paying off the remnants of what was originally a US$15bn debt refinancing at the height of the 2009 global crisis, according to Dow Jones.

Cemex said that it paid ahead of time the remaining US$1.94bn of a 2012 accord, using funds from 17 financial institutions that joined others in a refinancing deal reached about a year ago. The amount owed under the new credit agreement now stands at around US$3.79bn, including Euro620m (US$681m) and the rest in US Dollars.

"We have now consolidated our syndicated bank debt in a single agreement under improved conditions that better reflect our financial metrics. We are pleased with the interest shown by the bank market in this transaction and the continued support of our lenders," said CFO José Antonio González. With the latest refinancing, Cemex's only significant debt payments in the next two years are US$352m in convertible notes due in March 2016 and a US$373m principal payment in September 2017 on the existing bank loan agreement.

Cemex refinanced around US$15bn in bank debt during the 2009 global crisis, when the company's earnings fell and put payment of its heavy debt load at risk. In 2012, with about half of the amount left to pay, Cemex rescheduled around US$6bn and has since carried out further refinancings to lower the cost and extend the maturity of its debt. Cemex's total debt at the end of June 2015 stood at US$15.9bn, down from US$17.1bn a year earlier.

Brazil: Sinoma Group has announced plans to invest in the Brazilian State of Ceara after visiting the Pecem Port industrial complex on 31 July 2015. The group will not necessarily install a cement plant at the complex and could instead supply machinery and equipment to the cement sector. The group is likely to continue to evaluate the market and economic conditions of the state before determining the level of investment to be made.

Brazil: COO of Intercement Ricardo Lima has been appointed as company president. He replaces Jose Edison Franco. Lima and Franco have made a strategic company plan, which includes a US$250m investment in a new cement plant in Mozambique.

US: Summit Materials has reported increased net revenue, operating income and gross profit in the second quarter of 2015, which ended on 30 June 2015.

"During the second quarter of 2015, we produced significant growth in net revenues and margins across all of our lines of business. This strong improvement reflects the steady demand improvement in all of our regions, despite some weather-related challenges, mainly in Texas and Kansas, and our disciplined focus on price optimisation across our vertically integrated lines of businesses. We achieved this while also expanding our adjusted EBITDA margin by 300 basis points and generating incremental margins in excess of 50%. The success of our acquisition strategy was also evident in our results, with more than half of our profit growth contributed by our accretive acquisitions," said Tom Hill, president and CEO of Summit. "We believe our sustained progress is a direct result of the steps we have taken to expand our business into attractive markets and establish leadership positions throughout our diversified footprint. Our completion of the Davenport assets acquisition was an exciting milestone for our company and significantly advanced our position as a leading cement producer in the Midwest. We are now better positioned to continue enhancing our materials earnings exposure and overall profitability as we integrate these assets onto our platform. As we look to the back half of 2015, we plan to capitalise on the improving demand environment to improve our profitability while also remaining opportunistic with our capital to further expand our businesses in select target markets."

In the second quarter 2015, net revenue increased by 12.5% to US$329m. The increase in net revenue was primarily attributable to an increase in volumes across all lines of business, led by the West and Central regions. Net revenue grew organically by 3.2% to US$9.3m. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 28.4% to US$78.1m, with growth in all regions. As a percentage of net revenue, adjusted EBITDA improved to 23.8%, compared to 20.8% in the prior year quarter.

Adjusted EBITDA in the west region grew by 28.4% to US$8.7m, primarily driven by a higher mix of net revenue from aggregates, organic volume and price growth and the impact of acquisitions, mainly in the Houston and Midland / Odessa, Texas and British Columbia, Canada markets. In the central region, adjusted EBITDA increased by 23.2% to US$6.7m, largely attributable to price growth across all lines of business, stronger volume in aggregates and ready-mixed concrete and the favourable impact of acquisition activity. Adjusted EBITDA in the east region improved by 20.8% to US$1.6m, primarily as a result of higher volume in aggregates leading to a larger mix of net revenue derived from materials.

Gross profit increased by 25.1% to US$116m. As a percentage of net revenue, gross profit improved to 35.2%, compared to 31.6% in the prior year quarter, primarily attributable to a higher mix of net revenue from materials and products as a result of organic improvement and acquisition activity. Net revenue from materials increased by 29.6% to US$88.1m. Cement volumes and prices increased by 0.7% and 9.1%, respectively, both driven by additional market demand. Gross profit from materials grew by 34.7% to US$52.7m.

On 17 July 2015, Summit Materials completed the acquisition of the Davenports Assets, including a 1.2Mt/yr cement plant, a quarry and seven cement distribution terminals, from Lafarge for US$450m in cash and a cement distribution terminal in Bettendorf, Iowa. The Davenport Assets are being integrated with and will operate as Continental Cement Company, an existing wholly-owned subsidiary of Summit.