Displaying items by tag: Holcim
UK: Capsol Technologies has been selected to conduct a study on its carbon capture technology at Aggregate Industries Cauldon cement plant in Staffordshire. Owned by the Holcim Group, the company’s plant will undergo a feasibility study by Capsol Technologies for its CapsolEoP® carbon capture system. The potential for carbon capture at this plant is 600,000t/yr of CO₂. The CO₂ captured will be stored geologically through the nearby MNZ Cluster or HyNet North West.
CCO Johan Jungholm said “CapsolEoP® provides a cost-efficient carbon capture solution for cement, and our solution can be run on electricity alone without expensive heat integration or external steam supply. It offers flexibility in the optimisation of the designs, allowing for high capture rates, high reliability and low energy consumption."
The contract includes supplier input for the feasibility study, and further pre-FEED engineering if Capsol's technology is selected. The UK Government's Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF) is funding the study, with Petrofac as Aggregate Industries engineer. This study is part of Peak Cluster's objective to reduce over 3Mt/yr of CO₂ from cement, lime, and refuse facilities by 2030. Capsol Technologies is focusing on the cement industry, which accounts for about 8% of global CO₂ emissions.
Mexico: Holcim Mexico has appointed Jorge González Mateu as its chief financial officer (CFO). He previously worked as the Head of Controlling and the Deputy CFO for Holcim Mexico. González Mateu has worked for Holcim group since 2013 with similar financial roles for Holcim Ecuador, as well as other related positions for the group in Spain and Switzerland. Prior to this he worked for Tarmac in Spain.
Holcim initiates share buyback programme
20 March 2024Switzerland: Holcim launched a share buyback programme on 18 March 2023. The programme, totalling Euro1.03bn, will run until the end of 2024. Share cancellation is scheduled for approval at the group’s annual general meeting in May 2025. Holcim plans to finance the buyback from its existing cash reserves. It says that it remains committed to retaining a strong investment grade credit rating.
Holcim acquires Cand-Landi
20 March 2024Switzerland: After 128 years as a family-operated business in Grandson, Vaud, Cand-Landi will become a subsidiary of Holcim Group. This acquisition marks an expansion for Holcim in the areas of aggregate and concrete production, as well as landfill management.
The terms of the transaction, including the financial details, have not been disclosed. However, the Cand-Landi name will be kept after the acquisition.
Bamburi Cement completes divestment of Hima Cement
13 March 2024Uganda: Kenya-based Bamburi Cement has completed its US$84m sale of its subsidiary Hima Cement to a consortium comprising Sarrai Group and Rwimi Holding. The transaction completed in early March 2024 following regulatory and shareholder approval, according to the Business Daily newspaper. Bamburi Cement’s intention to sell Hima Cement was first announced in November 2023. Holcim held a 70% share and Cementia Holding held a 30% share in Hima Cement. Both companies have sold their full stakes to the new owners.
Holcim introduces ECOAsh in Western Canada
11 March 2024Canada: Holcim North America has introduced ECOAsh, a Type F fly ash reclaimed from landfills, within its Lafarge Western Canada operations. This innovation is part of Holcim's commitment to sustainable building materials and represents a significant stride in decarbonising the construction industry. As the shift away from coal-fired power plants continues, addressing challenges related to sourcing reliable fly ash supplies prompts the exploration of harvesting and beneficiating legacy landfilled ash as a viable replacement.
Toufic Tabbara, Regional Head of Holcim North America, said "As we continue to build to support growing population demands, the integration of circular building materials such as ECOAsh plays a crucial role in driving our portfolio towards a more sustainable future.”
Brad Kohl, President and CEO of Lafarge Western Canada, added "The transformation of landfill materials into high-value fly ash for sustainable building presents an exciting opportunity for our customers and us to build more with less and work towards a net-zero future.”
Holcim and Geocycle's new processing facility in Alberta will produce high-quality, specification-grade fly ash. The ECOAsh processing facility, commissioned in February 2024, will commence the production and distribution of products throughout Western Canada in the first quarter of 2024.
France: Fives Group has partnered with Holcim to decarbonise its cement production processes. Fives conducted successful hydrogen tests at the La Malle site in France, achieving over 50% hydrogen substitution in cement production. This result also enabled a significant increase in the use of alternative fuels while still maintaining cement quality. The group has also developed a digital model to tailor this process to each cement plant's unique requirements.
2023 roundup for the cement multinationals
06 March 2024Cement producers appear to have doubled down on the lessons they learned in 2022 by seeking profits wherever they could in 2023, despite stagnant markets in certain key places. Even with sales volumes of cement going down for most of the multinational cement companies covered here, revenues and earnings rose through price rises or business realignment.
Heidelberg Materials can often be relied upon to sprinkle a bit less sugar on its financial commentary compared to some of its competitors. Thus it is always worth reflecting on what it says. In its view, “In 2023, high inflation rates across the globe, increased financing costs, and persistently high energy and raw material prices significantly impaired construction activity and thus demand for our building materials. The decline in demand in private residential construction, which was massive in some cases, could not be offset by a solid development in industrial commercial construction and infrastructure projects.” Other opinions are available.
Graph 1: Sales revenue from selected cement producers in 2022 and 2023. Source: Company reports. Note: Figures calculated for UltraTech Cement.
Heidelberg Materials is notably missing in Graph 2 (below), though as the company is likely to be holding back its cement sales volume numbers until it releases its full annual report for 2023 towards the end of March 2024. However, Holcim and Heidelberg Materials reached similar sales volumes of cement in 2022 and this looks likely to have continued in 2023, or even gone further. Holcim divested its India-based and Brazil-based operations in 2022 and Africa-based ones in South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda in 2023. Heidelberg Materials has also slimmed down, albeit at a slower pace, with the sale of its businesses in Southern Spain in 2022 and The Gambia in 2023. Note that CRH and Holcim have swapped places in terms of sales revenue from 2022 to 2023. 65% of CRH’s sales came from its Americas divisions.
The outlier here is UltraTech Cement. It increased its sales volumes as the India-based market continues to push forward. Dangote Cement, meanwhile, delivered a surprise with a fall in volumes, due to poor trading at home in Nigeria. Sales outside of Nigeria grew significantly though. A real key moment for the evolution of Dangote Cement as a multinational player will be when its sales, volumes and earnings outside of Nigeria surpass those from back home. It’s not there yet but it looks likely to happen in the next few years.
Graph 2: Cement sales volumes from selected cement producers in 2022 and 2023. Source: Company reports. Note: Figures calculated for CRH and UltraTech Cement.
The progress of the construction market in the US compared to elsewhere has wielded an outsized effect on balance sheets for companies. Signs of this have been apparent for several years but it really picked up in 2023 with CRH switching its primary listing to the US in September 2023 and then Holcim announcing that it is planning to spin-off its North American business (for more on this see GCW 645). Heidelberg Materials was asked during its analysts’ conference call for its 2023 financial results what its plans were for the US. Chair Dominik von Achten said he was against splitting the business off from the rest of the group but that all other options were on the table. Various media outlets have interpreted this to mean that an initial public offering in the US is a likely possibility.
What Cemex does with this situation, if anything, might be worth watching. The company is already North America-focused. Its key markets are in Mexico, the US and Europe, and it is already listed in Mexico and the US. Subsequently in 2023 the market in Mexico bounced back and operating earnings rose sharply in both Mexico and the US. Finally on this theme, Buzzi, the fifth largest cement producer in the US by capacity, may also face a similar dilemma to its peers about what to do with its largest earning business area.
The increasing dominance of the US market for western-based multinational cement producers may be accelerating a trend towards large regional companies everywhere. China-based cement players already dominate the top 10 list of the world’s largest cement producers by capacity. Companies from India and elsewhere are on the way to do likewise as they grow and concentrate on one geographic area. The situation in the US meanwhile is persuading the multinationals to do the same thing in reverse as they reconfigure themselves based on market demand. In financial terms, this may mean chasing growth in the US, learning to cope with high carbon prices in Europe or diversifying away from heavy building materials. Elsewhere, despite the proliferation of regional giants, such as the China-based cement companies, few seem keen to become truly multinational in a hurry, although opportunities, such as the ongoing sale of InterCement in Brazil or CRH’s acquisition of AdBri in Australia, are still present.
Global Cement Weekly will return to look at the large China-based cement companies when they release their financial results later in March 2024
Al Jabor Cement appoints Rizwan Khan as General Manager
06 March 2024Qatar: Al Jabor Cement has appointed Rizwan Khan as its General Manager.
He previously worked as the chief financial officer for Al Jabor Cement. Prior to this he held financial and analytical roles for LafargeHolcim in the UAE and Saudi Arabia from 2009. Earlier in his career he worked for Emirates Flight Catering from the late 1990s. Khan holds a master in business administration qualification with a focus on finance from the University of Bradford in the UK.
Al Jabor Cement has been an affiliate company to Holcim since 2003 when it formed a strategic partnership. It also uses the name Holcim Cement Qatar.
Lafarge Africa reports 2023 financial results
06 March 2024Nigeria: Lafarge Africa revealed its 2023 financial results, with profit dropping by 4.7% year-on-year to US$32.6m, compared to US$34.2m in 2022.
CEO Lolu Alade-Akinyemi said “The fundamentals of our business remain strong in spite of extremely challenging macroeconomic headwinds.”