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Adani Group’s latest target for acquisition in the cement sector was revealed this week to be Heidelberg Materials’ India-based business. The Economic Times newspaper reported that talks have started between the companies with a tentative value of US$1.2bn. As might be expected, Adani Group is said to be keen to close the deal down quickly. It wants to avoid an auction situation where it might face competitors. However, there may be some disagreement about the actual production capacity of Heidelberg Materials’ companies in India. If a deal were finalised, it might be completed by early 2027.

Heidelberg Materials’ capacity in India was listed as 14Mt/yr by the press but this could include the company’s grinding plants as well as its integrated ones. Heidelberg Materials, itself, says it has a capacity of 12.1Mt/yr from three integrated cement plants, four grinding plants and a terminal across 12 states. Data from the Global Cement Directory 2024 suggests that this refers to the group’s integrated cement capacity. The plants are roughly split equally between subsidiaries Heidelberg Materials India and Zuari Cement. Heidelberg Materials entered the Indian market in 2006 when it acquired Mysore Cement, Cochin Cement and established a joint-venture with Indorama Cement. It later added Zuari Cement to its portfolio when it bought Italcementi in 2016. The group used to run four integrated plants in India until in May 2024, when it shut down clinker production at its Ammasandra plant in Karnataka, although grinding activity has continued at the site.

Back in 2021 Heidelberg Materials’ CEO Dominik von Achten said that the group had considered selling anything following a business review. "There are no sacred cows. Everything was on the table." Indonesia was generally perceived by analysts as a likely sale target in the developing markets but nothing happened in the end. India wasn’t mentioned at this time, although no doubt it was being considered. Yet Holcim divested its businesses there in 2022. These were picked up by Adani Group for US$6.4bn. This, in turn, kicked off the rivalry in the Indian cement sector between market leader UltraTech Cement and Adani Group. Both companies are now in a race to build production capacity through expansion, new plants and acquisitions.

One reason why Heidelberg Materials may have decided now in particular to talk to Adani Group can be seen in its recent financial reports. In 2023 it said that its “cement and clinker deliveries increased moderately, as massive excess capacities persist in our core markets.” It then followed this up in 2024 by noting that deliveries were slightly down year-on-year in the first half of the year. It blamed this on excess capacity in South India. The subsidiary reported a net loss of €6.3m in 2023. An article by Holtec Consulting in the October 2023 issue of Global Cement Magazine implied that capacity utilisation was 56% in 2023, the lowest of the country’s regions. This is a particular problem for the company given that Zuari Cement is based in the south.

Funnily enough, a sale of 12.1Mt/yr capacity for US$1.2bn suggests a price of US$99/t, a similar figure to what Adani Group paid to buy Holcim’s assets in India in 2022. This may explain why Adani Group is trying to avoid an open sale for the Heidelberg Materials assets. Then again, maybe the market in southern India really is suffering. By comparison, when Adani Group concluded a deal to buy Penna Cements in August 2024 it paid US$1.2bn for an integrated capacity of about 7Mt/yr or around US$170/t. Factor in the low capacity utilisation rate in south India and this potential Adani-Heidelberg Materials deal ends up at roughly the same price.

Something that may help Adani Group reach its goal might be a formal merger between its two main cement companies, Ambuja Cements and ACC. The Mint newspaper reported on it this week, saying that Jefferies and Axis Capital has been hired as an advisor. This certainly makes sense in synergy savings but moving all the mining and leasing rights around might prove cumbersome. Regardless, Adani Group is on an expansion drive, with a capacity of 140Mt/yr targeted by 2028. All the smaller cement companies in the country are potentially targets.

Austria: Haimo Primas has been appointed as the CEO of Holcim Austria. He succeeds Berthold Kren in the role.

Primas, aged 53 years, has worked for Holcim for over 20 years. He started working for Lafarge Zementwerke in the early 2000s and has worked for related companies, including Holcim CE Holding and Lafarge Slovenia. His responsibilities have included senior positions at cluster and national level in finance, business development, supply chain and human resources. Amongst other roles, he was the plant manager of the Retznei cement plant from 2022 to October 2024. Primas studied business administration at the Karl-Franzens-University Graz.

Taiwan: Lucky Cement has appointed Yun-Ju Chen as its chair. She succeeds Liang-Chuan Chen, her father, who has died. Yun-Ju Chen has been a director of the company since 2001.
The Taiwan-based cement producer operates an integrated plant at Tung-Ao and a grinding plant at Pu-Shin.

This company is not related to the larger Pakistan-based producer of the same name.

France: Calderys has appointed Sander Bovee as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

Bovee, a Dutch national, previously worked for Nouryon (formerly known as AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals), a specialty chemicals company, as its Vice President of Group Control & Treasury. He was also the company’s interim CFO for a period. Prior to this he worked for AkzoNobel in a variety of business and corporate finance roles based in the US, China and the Netherlands. He holds a master’s degree in economics and an executive masters in Finance and Control at Maastricht University.

Greece: ThyyssenKrupp Polysius has signed a front-end engineering design contract with Titan Group for the Ifestos carbon capture project at Titan’s Kamari cement plant. The project will equip the plant’s two kilns with oxyfuel systems to reduce CO₂ emissions by 1.9Mt/yr, ‘almost completely’, said ThyssenKrupp. The captured CO₂ is then liquefied and transported to a permanent storage site in the Mediterranean region. Full operation is expected by the end of 2029.

Cetin Nazikkol, chief strategy officer at ThyssenKrupp Decarbon Technologies, said “With the oxyfuel technology we have developed, around 1.9Mt/yr of CO₂ can be captured at the Kamari plant alone. This corresponds to around 12% of greenhouse gas emissions from all Greek industries. We are thus making a significant contribution to one of the largest CO₂ capture projects in Europe.”

Christian Myland, CEO of ThyssenKrupp Polysius, said “For our customer Titan Group, we will be using the latest CO₂ separation technology. We will design and equip the first kiln line with the proven oxyfuel technology. When modernising the second kiln line, the latest generation of this technology will be used with the pure oxyfuel system. Overall, this will enable us to capture almost 100% of CO₂ emissions.”

Saudi Arabia: In 2023, Saudi cement and clinker exports exceeded 8.48Mt. According to Al Riyadh news, the country ranks 10th globally with a production capacity of over 80Mt/yr from 20 plants. Local demand for cement reached 47.3Mt in 2023, with construction sector spending expected to hit US$1.6tn by 2030.

Minister of industry and mineral resources Bandar Alkhorayef said "The cement sector in the Kingdom has a promising future, with several leading companies constantly adopting the latest manufacturing technologies, helping to improve production efficiency. Recently, some companies have been active in upgrading and replacing some of their production lines to enhance quality."

Pakistan: Cement exports from Pakistan significantly increased in September 2024, rising by 71% year-on-year to 0.98Mt, compared to 0.57Mt in September 2023. Despite this growth in exports, domestic cement sales continued to decline, falling by 18% in September 2024. Overall, cement sales for the month decreased by 5.6%, totalling 3.54Mt compared to 3.75Mt in September 2023. From July to September 2024, domestic sales were down by 20%, totalling 8.13Mt, while exports rose by 22%, reaching 2.14Mt.

India: Shree Cement has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) to support startups in India's manufacturing sector. This partnership aligns with the government's ‘Make in India’ vision to encourage domestic manufacturing and build a self-reliant economy. Through this collaboration, startups will gain access to Shree Cement’s industrial expertise, network and resources, which will help them scale their operations and develop solutions. This initiative is expected to create new job opportunities, boost local production and reduce import dependency.

Philippines: Cemex Philippines has extended Aboitiz Construction’s contract to provide technical services for the commissioning of the upcoming Line 4 of its Antipolo City cement plant in Rizal. The Manila Times newspaper has reported that the new date on which the contract will conclude is in December 2024.

Aboitiz Construction chief operating officer Ramez Sidhom said "Our recent partnership with Cemex Philippines demonstrates our commitment to execution excellence and affirms our ability to provide reliable maintenance solutions while prioritising safety and quality of work.”

India: Adani Group is considering a merger of Ambuja Cements and ACC into a single entity, Adani Cement, by 2028. Mint News has reported that the group, which began integrating the operations of the two companies recently, may also include Sanghi Industries in the merger. The proposed merger would involve a share swap between the companies, with all existing brand identities retained.