Displaying items by tag: Holcim

Morocco: LafargeHolcim Maroc has appointed Amine Mnaouer as a production manager.

Mnaouer has worked for the subsidiary of Holcim and its associated companies since 2014. He started as an Electrical Maintenance Manager for Holcim Morocco in 2014 and became a Raw Mills & Kilns Manager in 2018. He later became Cement Plant Maintenance and Capex Manager in 2022. Prior to working for Holcim, he was an Electrical & Automation Engineer for wood panel producer Cema Bois de l’Atlas. He holds a master’s degree in engineering from the Henri Poincaré University in France and a doctorate in industrial digital transformation from the Mohamed First University in Morocco.

Poland: The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) has launched an investigation into Cement Ożarów, Cemex Polska, Dyckerhoff Polska, Góradżdże Cement, Górażdże Beton and Holcim Polska over potential cement cartelisation. The office has not stated the exact triggers of such an investigation at this time.

ISB News has reported that UOKiK previously discovered an 11-year-long conspiracy to divide the market and fix prices between seven companies in 2009.

UOKiK President Tomasz Chróstny said "The return of a cartel would be particularly outrageous, considering that cement is one of the basic construction materials, necessary for the development of housing, road infrastructure and the entire economy."

If found to have been party to any agreement restricting competition, companies can expect penalties as high as 10% of turnover.

Spain: Holcim is exploring the use of char as an alternative fuel in cement production as part of the Plastics2Olefins project, in collaboration with Geocycle. The producer is evaluating char samples made from different types of plastic waste.

Geocycle plant manager Cristina Gómez said “Since char properties can vary depending on the feedstock, the company is conducting detailed evaluations – looking at calorific value, moisture content, heavy metals, halogens, and sulphur levels, among other parameters.”

These full-scale industrial tests aim to understand how char behaves during combustion, how it affects emissions of CO₂, NO_x, and SO_x, and whether it impacts the stability of the production process or the quality of the cement. Char samples produced at the Repsol pilot plant are being tested at two of Holcim’s facilities: the Quality Central Laboratory and Geocycle Albox. Gómez added “These comprehensive tests provide a solid understanding of char’s properties and help anticipate how it will perform in real-world industrial conditions.”

Holcim is also experimenting with blends of char and petcoke to optimise energy performance and environmental compliance.

Switzerland/US: Holcim will complete the 100% spin-off of its North American business, Amrize, with trading expected to begin on 23 June 2025. The US Securities and Exchange Commission has declared effective the Amrize Form 10 Registration Statement, and Amrize has received authorisation to list shares on the New York Stock Exchange and the SIX Swiss Exchange under ‘AMRZ’.

Holcim shareholders approved the move with 99.75% in favour at the company’s annual general meeting on 14 May 2025. Each Holcim shareholder will receive one Amrize share per Holcim share owned as of close of business on 20 June 2025. The spin-off will be treated as tax neutral for Swiss tax and tax-free for US federal income tax purposes. S&P Global Ratings and Moody’s Ratings rated Amrize at BBB+ and Baa1, respectively, both with stable outlooks.

Greece: Holcim has broken ground at the Olympus project at its Milaki plant, which will produce 2Mt/yr of ‘near-zero-CO₂’ cement from 2029. The producer will invest €400m in the development, and it has secured €125m from the EU Innovation Fund. The plant will combine OxyCalciner and Cryocap FG technologies for carbon capture. Holcim said the project would create over 1000 jobs for the local area.

Holcim CEO Miljan Gutovic said “The Olympus project in Greece is one of our seven large-scale, EU-supported carbon capture, utilisation and storage projects that are setting the Clean Industrial Deal in motion. Together, these will enable Holcim to offer over 8Mt/yr of near-zero cement across Europe by 2030.”

Nigeria: A court in Lagos has found that it has jurisdiction to hear a suit filed by Strategic Consultancy against the sale of an 84% stake in Lafarge Africa by Holcim to Huaxin Cement. Lafarge Africa submitted the unsuccessful challenge to the court’s jurisdiction. This Day News has reported that the court also ordered the joinder of Netherlands-based Caricement and UK-based Associated International Cements as defendants.

Strategic Consultancy alleges that the sale bypassed minority shareholders, in violation of Nigerian law. Proceedings will continue on 11 June 2025.

Switzerland: Holcim shareholders have elected Kim Fausing as the Chair of the group’s board of directors, succeeding Jan Jenisch, who will become chair and CEO of the group’s North American spin-off, Amrize. Other appointments include the election of Adolfo Orive and Sven Schneider as new Holcim board members.

Fausing has served on Holcim’s board since 2020. He is CEO of Danfoss, a Denmark-based supplier of heating and cooling, motor and electronics technology, and Deputy Chair of Germany-based SMA Solar Technologies, and previously held senior roles at Liechtenstein-based tooling company Hilti and Denmark-based windows producer VELUX. He holds an Executive Master’s of Business Administration from Henley Business School in the UK and a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Aarhus Tech, Denmark.

Holcim's spin-off of its North American business, Amrize, is scheduled to be completed by the end of June 2025. Amrize shares are due to list on the SIX Swiss Exchange the New York Stock Exchange as AMRZ.

Fausing said “As Chair and CEO of Holcim for over seven years, Jan has made Holcim a leading company in its financial performance, sustainability, innovation and culture. I extend our deep thanks to Jan for his outstanding accomplishments.”

Switzerland/US: Holcim’s shareholders have approved all proposals at the group’s annual general meeting in Zug, Switzerland. A key proposal was the planned spin-off of the producer’s North American business as US-based Amrize. Holcim will now make a special distribution of one Amrize share for every Holcim share. Amrize shares are due to list on the SIX Swiss Exchange the New York Stock Exchange as AMRZ from June 2025.

Holcim says that over 99% of voters favoured the spin-off proposal.

Hungary: ID Energy Group inaugurated a 28.5MW solar park at Holcim Magyarorszag's cement plant in Kiralyegyhaza on 12 May 2025. The new facility will supply around 30% of the plant’s electricity needs and was built under a power purchase agreement, according to MTI news.

Stop press! The Portland Cement Association (PCA) has renamed itself as the American Cement Association (ACA).

Speaking to the audience at the IEEE-IAS/PCA Cement Industry Cement Conference taking place this week in Birmingham, Alabama, ACA president Mike Ireland said that the new name better represents its members, from the Atlantic seaboard to the Pacific coast. He added that the old name, the PCA, had caused the association confusion over the years with it being mistaken as only representing Portland, Oregon, or Portland, Maine.

This follows comments from Ireland to Global Cement Magazine in April 2024. At that time he also mentioned how changing levels of production of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) compared to blended cements had suggested a rethink. Surveys were then sent out by the PCA asking people what they thought about in connection to the association and which name suggestions they liked. A year or so later and the new name has arrived. Thankfully the PCA didn’t determine the name by public ballot alone, thereby avoiding the risk of a joke name. Readers wondering about this can remind themselves about the time the UK Natural Environment Research Council ran a website survey asking what a new polar research ship should be called. The vessel was eventually called the RRS Sir David Attenborough rather than the internet’s choice of Boaty McBoatface!

Global Cement Weekly also reflected upon the point Ireland made about the change in the blends of cement being used. The adoption of Portland Limestone Cement (PLC) production in the US contributed to the rise in blended cements shipments. United States Geological Survey (USGS) data shows that shipments of blended cements more than doubled from 26Mt in 2022 to 61Mt in 2024. This compares to shipments of OPC of 41Mt in 2024. This change appears to have been mostly accepted so far, but it is not without its detractors. For example, take this campaign promoting a return to traditional Type I and II cements on ‘performance’ grounds.

As for the US cement market, USGS data shows that shipments of Portland and blended cement fell by about 13% year-on-year to 11.8Mt in the first two months of 2025 from 13.8Mt in the same period in 2024. This was for both domestic shipments and imports. Most of the cement companies that have so far released first quarter financial results for 2025 reported poor weather adversely affecting sales. Holcim noted that sales improved in March 2025. Cemex blamed its lower sales volumes of cement and ready-mixed concrete on the period having one less working day compared to 2024. CRH pointed out in its analysts’ presentation that the first quarter of the year is typically the smallest of the four in terms of sales volumes. The really interesting data may start to emerge in the second and subsequent quarters, as the markets and supply chains start to react to current US trade policy. At the time of writing, widespread tariffs on many countries were announced at the start of April 2025 but then subsequently paused for 90 days.

The American Cement Association has a new name for the 21st Century. The PCA has served it well as a name for over 100 years, but now seems a good time for a change. Whether the future is one of blended cements, carbon capture, a return to OPC or whatever else remains to be seen. Yet the future of construction in the US looks set to involve plenty of cement. There are sure to be challenges along the way. Here’s to the next 100 years.