Displaying items by tag: Holcim

Brazil: The General Superintendence of the Administrative Council for Economic Defence (CADE) has approved CSN’s takeover deal with Holcim for the latter’s Brazilian business. The América Economía newspaper has reported that the US$1.03m deal covers five cement plants, among other assets.

Holcim has said that its Latin America region remains strategically important within its global operations.

Argentina: Holcim Argentina has launched a hackathon for project proposals aimed at boosting gender inclusivity in the Argentinian construction sector. Projects may fall along one or more target axes: awareness, education and training, enterprise or public policy. Two winning projects will claim US$300,000 each in prize money, and the contest is open to anyone over 18. The company says that the hackathon is an invite to open a conversation about the presence and appreciation of women in cement and construction.

Argentina: Christian Dedeu, the chief executive officer of Holcim Argentina, has warned that there is no guarantee that there will be gas available for his company’s cement plants in the winter of 2022. In an interview with the El Cronista newspaper, Dedeu said that energy prices had risen due to the war in Ukraine and that importing liquefied gas by ship was becoming both harder and more expensive.

He also expressed concern about the government system of price controls on bagged cement, which had made it cheaper to buy bagged instead of bulk cement. Smaller companies are already reportedly buying large consignments of bagged cement and breaking it up to save money.

Switzerland: Environmental activists have occupied a forest on private land next to the Gabenchopf quarry that supplies limestone to Holcim Schweiz’s Siggenthal cement plant. The activists are protesting about a planned expansion to the quarry, according to the Blick newspaper. Police have described the mood of the activists as ‘peaceful.’ The occupation follows a similar protest against expansion of another Holcim-owned quarry at Mormont, Vaud, in 2021.

UK: Holcim subsidiary Aggregate Industries has launched an accelerated careers programme for Ukrainian refugees called Jobs for Ukraine. The programme offers a fast and supportive recruitment process with a view to finding Ukrainian refugees suitable employment in the UK. Candidates may access online registration here.

US: Holcim has announced the rebranding of its US-based LafargeHolcim US subsidiary to Holcim US. The name change is the first in any region since parent company LafargeHolcim became Holcim in July 2021. The producer says that this regional rebrand marks a ‘significant milestone’ towards establishing a shared purpose and vision across its global operations.

Holcim will continue to work towards becoming the global leader in innovative and sustainable building solutions through building progress for people and the planet.

UK: Edie has named Holcim’s chief sustainability and innovation officer Magali Anderson as laureate of its Sustainability Leader of the Year award at the Sustainability Leaders Awards 2022. The awards recognise leaders from across all sectors of UK industry. Naturalist Chris Packham hosted the event in Westminster, London.

The economic fallout from the war in Ukraine continued this week with the news that Holcim plans to leave the Russian market. It said that it took the decision based on its “values to operate in the most responsible manner.” The company’s Russian subsidiary added that all of its plants would continue to operate as normal while it considered its divestment options.

Holcim’s road to withdrawal has been staggered. In February 2022 at the start of the war it pronounced its sympathy for any affected colleagues and their families and made a Euro1m donation to the Red Cross. Later it said that it would continue operating its business in Russia by following all regulations and supplying the local market. However, at this time it said it would suspend further capital investments in Russia and that it would “not benefit from our presence in this market.”

It’s unknown what prompted Holcim to take the plunge with Russia one month after the war started. At the very least, making decisions over assets valued this highly takes time. CM Pro has reported that the Russian government has considered introducing reference prices for building materials for infrastructure projects and that the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has been monitoring prices for ‘unreasonable’ growth over the last month. This follows grumbling by the Ministry of Industry and Trade in late 2021 about an apparent low capacity utilisation rate in the country despite shortages in the Central Federal District.

CRH said that it was leaving its Russian concrete business in early March 2022. Yet the decision by Holcim makes it the first of the three western multinational cement producers with large-scale operations in Russia to publicly say it’s pulling out. Holcim, HeidelbergCement and Buzzi Unicem each operate at least two integrated cement plants in the region.

Lafarge entered the Russian market in 1996. Its successor Holcim runs plants at Voskresensk and Kolomna in the Moscow region, at Ferzikovo in the Kaluga region and Volsk in the Saratov region. Together the plants have a production capacity of around 9Mt/yr. Over the last decade Holcim and its predecessor has invested at least a reported Euro1.3bn in three of the plants. The dry-production line Ferzikovo plant was built in 2015. The Shchurovsky plant in Kolomna was originally founded in 1870 and claims to be the oldest in the country. In 2011 it started commissioned a new dry production line. The Volsk plant started a modernisation project in 2017. The fourth, the Voskresensk plant, was mothballed in 2016. However, in early February 2022 LafargeHolcim Russia said it was aiming to spend Euro23m towards restarting production at the site. This was likely due to a boom in construction in 2021. The subsidiary also owns three aggregate quarries in the Republic of Karelia region of the country, near the border with Finland.

Selling up in Russia looks set to be difficult for Holcim. This is principally due to the European and American economic sanctions and the Russian government’s stated intention to nationalise the assets of any company trying to leave. This is clearly why Holcim has worded its plans so vaguely. If or when a peace deal is reached between Russia and Ukraine, the business environment could change significantly, depending on the terms, complicating any existing sale process. Determining how much Holcim might want to get from such a sale in these conditions is complex. Smikom bought Eurocement from Sberbank for Euro2.1bn in 2021 giving it 10 plants. Could Holcim realistically expect to sell its plants for around Euro200m each in the current environment? As for the hit Holcim might take, in its annual report for 2021 it said that the group’s Russian operations represented around 1% of the 2021 consolidated net sales. This would have been around Euro260m. Its Russian cement production capacity was reported as being 9Mt/yr in 2021 or 3% of the group’s global figure of 293Mt/yr.

Finally, it is worth noting though that Lafarge’s charges of ‘complicity in crimes against humanity’ also continued to be tested in the French courts this week. The legal case relates to the conduct of Lafarge in Syria between 2011 and 2014. This is totally separate from the situation in Russia but it does highlight the issue of corporate ethics for the group once again. Following proceedings in December 2021, Beat Hess, chair of the board of Holcim said, “The described events concerning Lafarge SA were concealed from the Holcim board at the time of the merger in 2015 and go completely against the values of our company.” Consider that use of ‘values’ again. Holcim may be about to find out how much it is prepared to pay for its values as it departs Russia.

Germany: ThyssenKrupp Uhde, Holcim and the Technische Universität Berlin have started a joint project to investigate the use of a novel amine scrubbing technology for carbon capture. The goal is to significantly reduce CO₂ emissions from existing cement plants and at the same time utilise the captured CO₂ for other applications. This includes the development of new mass transfer process equipment that is more efficient and resilient to contaminations. The project is being funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action.

The equipment is being tested using exhaust gas at Holcim’s Beckum plant. Various possibilities for using the captured CO₂ are also being examined, such as manufacturing methanol or sustainable fuels. The aim is develop a technology that can be retrofitted at existing cement plants.

Ralph Kleinschmidt, head of technology, innovation and sustainability at ThyssenKrupp Uhde said, "Amine scrubbing is already commonly used to recover CO₂ from process gases or exhaust gases. Now, we are developing the technology further and optimising it for the cement industry. Additional applications for capturing CO₂ direct at source, such as in waste incineration plants, are also possible."Arne Stecher, head of decarbonisation at Holcim Germany added that the company is testing different processes to find the best carbon capture technology.

Russia: Switzerland-based Holcim has announced its upcoming exit from the Russian cement market in line with its corporate value ‘to operate in the most responsible manner.’ The Global Cement Directory 2022 records a total of four Holcim cement plants in the country, commanding a capacity of 9.2Mt/yr.

Holcim’s board of directors thanked all employees currently mobilising to provide shelter, essential goods and medical supplies and other support to Ukrainians.

The group had previously suspended new capital investments into the market on 15 March 2022.