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What’s in a name? Well maybe quite a lot when the company in question originally formed as a ‘merger of equals.’ So the news this week that the shareholders of LafargeHolcim have agreed to change its group name to Holcim suggests quite a lot. The name will only apply to the group company name and all market brands will remain as they are. Yet something fundamental appears to have changed.

As readers may remember, the original merger arrangements between Lafarge and Holcim ran into difficulties in early 2015 when Holcim’s shareholders expressed discontent at the perceived difference in value between the two companies in 2014. The deal was saved with a move away from a proposed 1-1 share exchange ratio towards one more in the favour of the Holcim shareholders and the removal of Lafarge’s chief executive Bruno Lafont as the designated chief executive of the new entity. However, from this point onwards the nagging suspicious was that the merger was really a glacial takeover of Lafarge by Holcim. Lafont and LafargeHolcim’s first chief executive officer (CEO) Eric Olsen became embroiled in legal proceedings surrounding Lafarge’s historic conduct in Syria. Then in mid-2018 LafargeHolcim decided to close its Paris headquarters, Lafarge’s old hub. During an extraordinary general meeting in May 2015 held by Holcim it was agreed to rename Holcim Ltd as LafargeHolcim Ltd as part of the merger process. The latest decision by shareholders in 2021 has reversed this.

For consumers of building products the bit about market brands staying as they are, as LafargeHolcim changes its name, is probably more important than the corporate wrangling over whatever the faraway parent company may or may not be called. So, Holcim Argentina’s plans this week to open 1000 new branches of its Disensa retail chain by 2024 may be far more important for existing and potential customers in that country. This is an enormous number of hardware stores for just one country by most reckonings and its gives one an idea of LafargeHolcim’s ambitions in the sector. It also carries echoes of the trend of business chains taking over the previously independent convenience store sector in the food sector in other parts of the world in recent decades. The Disensa franchise already operates over 2500 stories in eight countries - Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Nicaragua and El Salvador – and it holds claim to being the largest building materials network in Latin America. And they aren’t stopping with just selling building materials. One innovation announced in April 2021 was the introduction of financial services to small businesses wanting to buy building products at its stores.

LafargeHolcim isn’t saying how much its retail chains contribute to the bottom line but no doubt it’s helping in a variety of ways. During an earnings call for its fourth quarter results in 2020, for example, its chief financial officer Geraldine Picaud noted that growth in Latin America in the second half of 2020 was driven by branded product in all distribution channels, including the Disensa chain. She also added that the region had the highest margin in the group at the time. Another thing to consider is, if the rumours about LafargeHolcim preparing to sell its operations in Brazil are true, what will it do with the local Disensa chain? Divesting carbon-intensive heavy industries, such as cement production, but migrating outwards and upwards in the building materials supply chain would certainly suggest that the company is preparing for its place in a low-carbon future.

Yet with all this talk of what LafargeHolcim or Holcim wants to call itself it is interesting to note that it was under Holcim in 2005 that Disensa was turned into a franchise network in its original home of Ecuador. A similar version of this model called Binastore was expanded and launched by LafargeHolcim in 2018 for Africa and the Middle East. ‘Joe Public’ or rather ‘José Public’ may not care what LafargeHolcim is called when they are buying cement from their local Disensa store. Other hardware stories are of course available.

Russia: LafargeHolcim Russia has appointed Andrey Polezhaev as the director of its integrated Schurovsky plant in Kolomna, Kaluga Oblast. He previously worked at the plant, from 2015 to 2017, as head of the repair service and has worked for the group since 1998.

The Schurovsky plant celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2020. Located close to Moscow, it has supplied cement for many well known infrastructure projects in the region including the reconstruction of the Luzhniki Stadium, which hosted the final of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the construction of runways at Sheremetyevo and Domodedovo airports, the modernisation of the Kaluzhskoe highway and the creation of the Central Ring Road. It is also the only plant in Russia that produces white cement.

US: Solidia Technologies has appointed Bryan Kalbfleisch appointed as its chief executive officer.

Kalbfleisch holds two decades of experience leading manufacturing operations producing concrete, asphalt, and other building materials. He previously worked at Summit Materials, an aggregates-based construction materials company, where he served as president of both its Texas Region and Houston-based Alleyton Resource. He also previously served as president of Fayetteville, APAC Central for Oldcastle (CRH), North America's largest manufacturer of building products and materials. His career was launched in the ready-mix concrete division of Central Pre-Mix Concrete Company, which was sold to Oldcastle in 1997.

Mexico: Elementia recorded standalone net sales of US$363m in the first quarter of 2021, up by 18% year-on-year from US$309m in the first quarter of 2020. The group’s Mexican cement sales rose by 25% to US$74.9m from US$60.0m. Its US cement sales rose by 6% to US$58.9m from US$55.8m and its Central American sales rose by 18% to US$6.13m from US$5.19m. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 52% to US$51.2m from US$33.6m. In early March 2021 the group announced that it was starting a spin-off process to form a new company from its metals and building systems businesses as part of an ongoing corporate strategic reorganisation.

Canada/US: Brazil-based Votorantim Cimentos and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) have completed the transaction to merge their cement operations in North America. After having obtained regulatory approval from authorities in Brazil, Canada and the US, St Marys Cement (Canada), a wholly owned subsidiary of Votorantim Cimentos can now commence with the integration process with McInnis Cement. As part of the transaction, the parties will combine their North American assets in a jointly-held entity. Votorantim Cimentos International, the international investments platform and wholly owned subsidiary of Votorantim Cimentos, will hold 83% and CDPQ will indirectly hold 17% of the shares.

The combined entity will comprise operations in Bowmanville and St Marys, in Ontario, Canada and in Detroit and Charlevoix in Michigan, Dixon in Illinois and Badger in Wisconsin in the US, along with a distribution network concentrated in the Great Lakes region - plus the Port-Daniel–Gascons plant and its distribution operations, including terminals located in Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and the Northeastern region of the US.

Oman: The government is reportedly considering selling its majority stake in Oman Cement. Unnamed sources quoted by Bloomberg say that the authorities have been discussing the matter with financial advisors but that no final decision has been reached. The government owns a 54% stake in the cement producer through the Oman Investment Authority.

In separate reporting, Oman Cement Company has postponed its proposed US$250m Duqm cement plant project while it confirms the availability of fuel. In March 2021 the cement producer issued a tender for a related power plant project, according to the Muscat Daily newspaper. The proposed plant will have a clinker production capacity of 5000t/day.

Nigeria: Dangote Cement’s revenue grew by 35.5% year-on-year to US$874m in the first quarter of 2021 from US$655m in the same period in 2020. Cement sales volumes rose by 18.7% to 7.5Mt from 6.3Mt. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 56% to US$468m from US$300m. Revenue and sales volumes increased fastest in Nigeria but earnings increased faster in the rest of Africa.

“We took the strategic decision to pause our clinker exports to ensure we meet the rapid volume growth in the Nigerian domestic market. We are improving the output of our existing and new assets and aim to recommence clinker exports in the second quarter,” said Michel Puchercos, the company’s chief executive officer. He added that the company had also ramped-up its new 3Mt/yr Obajana Line 5.

South Africa: PPC has agreed to sell its lime business to Kgatelopele Lime for US$36m. The cement producer previously identified PPC Lime as a non-core operation and the sale process started in December 2020. Kgatelopele Lime was formed to buy PPC Lime. Its shareholders are mineral resources trader IMR Resources, investment holding companies Kolobe Nala Investment Lime, HEX2M and JJJL Mining. The divestment is subject to consent by competition authorities and the government by the end of 2021.

PPC Lime originally started operations in 1954 in Lime Acres, Northern Cape. PPC Lime continues to mine out of two quarries, mining dolomite and limestone respectively, along with a rotary kiln plant to manufacture the burnt product. PPC Lime generated revenue and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the financial year that ended 31 March 2020 of US$59m and US$7.6m respectively.

Kazakhstan: The Technical Regulation and Metrology Committee (KTRM) of the Ministry of Trade and Integration is preparing to introduce new standards for imported cement. The new rules will come into place in July 2021, according to the Kazakhstan News Agency. Following their introduction all participants in the cement industry market, including importers, will be required to perform compulsory qualification confirmation in accordance with the national standards. The KTRM has also started setting up a testing laboratory with a site granted accreditation in late April 2021. The Ministry of Integration and Integration and the Kazakhstan Cement and Concrete Manufacturers Association (QazCem) have also held a meeting recently to discuss key industry concerns and the measures required to combat the spread of counterfeit cement products.

Europe: The European Union (EU) Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) has reached a price of Euro50/t. Data from Refinitiv and reporting by Reuters shows that on 4 May 2021 it hit Euro50.05/t, its highest level since the scheme started in 2005. Prior to late 2020 the carbon market price remained below Euro30/t. The fourth phase of the EU ETS started in January 2021.