Global Cement Newsletter

Issue: GCW734 / 05 November 2025

Headlines


The FLSmidth Cement divestment story took a historic turn this week with the renaming of the company to Fuller Technologies. The sale of the company to private equity firm Pacific Avenue Capital Partners completed on 31 October 2025. Pacific Avenue then publicly rebranded the firm a few days later in early November 2025.

FLSmidth Cement was sold as a complete operating business with all the intellectual property (IP), technology, employees, manufacturing facilities, sales and service organisations included. For more on this read Global Cement Weekly #716. The decision to change the name to Fuller Technologies harks back to the history of FLSmidth and related companies. Pennsylvania-based Fuller Company dates back to the mid-19th Century with the formation of the McKee-Fuller Foundry Company. Fuller Company later emerged in the 1920s when it started selling the Fuller-Kinyon pump, a pneumatic screw pump that simplified the handling of pulverised materials. This product went on to become well known for cement conveying. In 1959 Fuller acquired Traylor Engineering. It was then later acquired by FLSmidth in 1990.

What is interesting here is that Pacific Avenue has chosen to emphasise the US industrial heritage of its acquisition. Looking at the numbers last year offers one answer as to why. Purely in economic terms FLSmidth Cement’s revenue share broke down as follows in 2024: US - 24%; Denmark - 14%; India - 11%; Indonesia - 9%; Brazil - 8%; Türkiye - 7%; and China - 7%. The remainder came from export sales elsewhere.

Both Fuller and FLSmidth are well known brands in the cement sector though. One is American and the other is European. Focusing on the US brand name is a canny move given the increasing dominance of China-based equipment suppliers to the global cement market from the 2010s onwards. One of the few markets that the Chinese equipment suppliers have not made inroads into is the US. Whilst they may have supplied smaller pieces of equipment, major orders have remained the preserve of western companies. Or at least publicly they have. Partly this is because few new lines have been built recently. Yet, the three new clinker production lines in the US in recent years - Heidelberg Materials’ plant in Mitchell, Indiana, National Cement’s plant in Ragland, Alabama and GCC’s plant at Odessa, Texas - had major equipment supplied by either thyssenkrupp or KHD. Both companies are German, although KHD is majority-owned by a Chinese entity.

Western cement multinationals have focused on the US as they have retreated from the east. Key examples of this include CRH’s acquisition of Ash Grove in 2018 and the spin-off of Amrize by Holcim in 2025. Trade protectionism has then crept in under the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022 and the more overt tariffs introduced by the Trump administration in 2025. The US cement market is the third largest in the world and the fundamentals for the local construction materials market look good in the medium term. With carbon taxes in the US looking like a distant prospect, it’s a fair bet that more clinker production lines are likely to be required before too long. Protectionism and demand suggest that an equipment supplier to the cement sector with a historically American sounding name and long US-roots might just have an edge. Manufacturing facilities based in the US could also help reduce the cost of tariffs too.

Of course, given that Pacific Avenue is a private equity firm, it may be preparing for a future carve-out or other forms of financial engineering by building up the perceived value of its asset. Or maybe somebody at Pacific Avenue (or elsewhere) simply likes their American industrial history!

Anyway, welcome back to Fuller Technologies and best of luck. And, lest anyone forget, it remains a multinational company with offices in Europe, India, China, Brazil, Thailand, the UAE… and the US.


Nigeria: Lafarge Africa has appointed Ke Zhigang as its Chief Financial Officer. He succeeds Puneet Sharma in the post.

Ke Zhigang holds over 20 years’ experience in the cement sector. He started working for Huaxin Cement in 2003 and later became its Overseas Regional Finance Director in 2018. Ke Zhigang holds a master of business administration (MBA) qualification from Huazhong University of Science and Technology and an undergraduate degree in accounting from Huazhong Agricultural University.

China-based Huaxin Cement acquired a majority-share from Holcim in August 2025.


India: Vicat has appointed Gagandeep Singh Khehra as its Head of Production and Process at its subsidiaries in India.

Singh Khehra has worked in the cement industry since the mid-2000s. He began his career working for Binani Cement in 2007 before joining Holcim in 2010, holding production roles at its local subsidiary ACC. He eventually became the Head of Production at its Wadi plant, Karnataka in 2024. This role continued following the acquisition by Adani Group. Singh Khehra holds an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from Punjab Technical University.


Pakistan: Pioneer Cement has appointed Ch Tasneem Anwar as Deputy General Manager (Production). He has worked in production roles at the cement producer since 2017. Prior to this was the Section Head (Production) at City Cement in Saudi Arabia. He launched his career working for Pioneer Cement in 2006. Anwar holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Engineering and Technology in Lahore.


Germany: KHD Humboldt Wedag has appointed Martin Strouhal as its Chief Sales Officer from effect from 1 January 2026.

Strouhal previously worked as the Vice President - Head of Construction & Operation - Region APAC for wind turbine manufacturer Vestas. Before this, he worked for FLSmidth from the mid-1990s to 2022. He started as a Site and Installation Service Manager before moving into sales. Notable positions during this time included Sales Director - Cement Project Division EMEA & APAC from 2011 to 2016 and Senior Vice President - Global Projects and Asset Management from 2018 to 2022. Strouhal is a graduate in machinery and production engineering from the DTU - Technical University of Denmark and holds a number of post-graduate business qualifications.


Romania: Holcim has won a European Union Innovation Fund grant for its Carbon Hub CPT 01 carbon capture and storage (CCS) project at its Campulung cement plant. The initiative will produce an estimated 2Mt/yr of near-zero cement from 2032, marking Eastern Europe’s first full-scale onshore CCS project, according to the company.

The project, developed with Carmeuse as a key partner, will capture CO₂ from kiln flue gases, compress it and transport it for permanent underground storage. Holcim said the project supports the EU’s Clean Industrial Deal and advances its NextGen Growth 2030 strategy.

With this grant, Holcim now has eight large-scale EU-supported carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) projects, located in Belgium, Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Poland and Romania.


Greece: Titan Group has entered a strategic partnership with thyssenkrupp Polysius to advance Polysius’ meca clay technology, which aims to reduce CO₂ emissions from cement production. The collaboration was formalised through a memorandum of understanding.

The meca clay system activates alternative cementitious materials to partially replace clinker, thereby lowering emissions and energy use without affecting performance, according to the company. Titan will first implement the technology at its Patras cement plant, with pilot activities scheduled for 2026 and further rollout planned. The partnership targets the production of low-carbon cement with a clinker-to-cement ratio below 40%, compared to 93% in ordinary Portland cement.


Belgium: Carmeuse’s LEOPARD project in Aisemont has been selected for funding by the European Innovation Fund. The project aims to achieve zero-carbon lime production through a hybrid process that combines CO₂ preconcentration with membrane-based carbon capture. The system increases the CO₂ concentration in kiln flue gases prior to capture, reducing operating costs compared to conventional post-combustion methods while avoiding additional air or chemical waste emissions, according to the company. The facility will also integrate bioenergy with carbon capture and storage technologies.

Carmeuse said the project will prevent more than 70,000t/yr of CO₂ emissions and remove additional CO₂ from the atmosphere through bioenergy carbon capture and storage (BECCS). The process runs solely on electricity, supporting the company’s target of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.


Germany: AUMUND Fördertechnik has launched its electrified Linear Calcination Conveyor (eLCC), which enables efficient clay calcination for limestone calcined clay cement (LC3).

LC3, composed of roughly 50% clinker, 30% calcined clay, 15% limestone and 5% gypsum, can reduce CO₂ emissions by up to 40% compared to ordinary Portland cement, according to the company. The technology enhances pozzolanic reactions between limestone and calcined clay, which provides additional alumina to form carboaluminate phases, improving strength and durability while lowering clinker use. Developed in collaboration with Holcim over four years, the eLCC was tested successfully at AUMUND’s pilot demonstration unit in Rheinberg, confirming its potential to support low-carbon cement production at industrial scale.


UK: N+P Group announced that investment has been approved for its new 5t/hr research and development pilot line at its Hartlepool site. The installation will separate biogenic fractions from hard-to-process waste, including municipal solid waste and material from materials recovery facilities and other processing sites. The output will be a cleaned, high-biogenic alternative fuel, with biogenic content expected to exceed 70%. N+P aims to deliver the first volumes from its facility in the first quarter of 2026.


Europe: The EU Innovation Fund has selected four of Heidelberg Materials’ carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) projects for grant agreement preparation under its Net-Zero Technologies Call. Selected projects were assessed in terms of their potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, their degree of innovation, project maturity, replicability and cost efficiency. The selected projects are Anthemis in Belgium, AirvaultGOCO₂ in France, DREAM in Italy, and HuCCSar in Poland.

The Anthemis project in Belgium will equip the Antoing clinker plant with an oxyfuel carbon capture unit capable of capturing over 95% of the plant’s emissions, or more than 800,000t/yr of CO₂. The company also plans to transport and permanently store the captured CO₂. The AirvaultGOCO₂ project in France will capture nearly 1Mt/yr of CO₂ at the Airvault cement plant and transport it to permanent storage under the North Sea. The DREAM project in Italy will capture around 1Mt/yr of CO₂ from the Rezzato-Mazzano cement plant for storage in the Ravenna CCS hub beneath the Adriatic Sea. The HuCCSar project in Poland will develop the country’s first onshore CCS value chain and validate local CO₂ storage potential.

Chair of the managing board Dr Dominik von Achten said “This is a great day for the company and for the decarbonisation of the cement industry in Europe. The support from the Innovation Fund is a strong vote of confidence for our approach and our projects. Today’s milestone confirms that we are on the right track with the next chapters of our journey – building on the successful launch of our Brevik CCS project in Norway and the recent Final Investment Decision for Padeswood CCS in the UK.”

Member of the managing board Jon Morrish said “The selected projects in four of our European core markets are important drivers of innovation. We call on the four member states – France, Belgium, Italy and Poland – to work closely with us to enable the right framework conditions in order for us to reach Final Investment Decision for these projects. This will allow our customers to access carbon captured near-zero products under our evoZero brand at much larger scale.”


India: NCL Industries has commissioned its new cement grinding plant at Thallapalem, near Anakapalle. The greenfield facility was inaugurated by Union Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Steel Bhupathiraju Srinivasa Varma. It adds 660,000t/yr to the company’s total cement capacity, now at 4Mt/yr. Built at an estimated cost of US$28m, the 16-hectare plant will produce ‘eco-friendly’ cement and create around 250 direct and indirect jobs, according to The Times of India. The plant features vertical roller mills supplied by Loesche and will be powered by a 5MW captive solar plant currently under construction.

Vice chair K Ravi said “This facility reinforces our commitment to operational efficiency, product quality and customer trust. With this addition, we are well-positioned to meet rising demand and support India’s infrastructure growth with reliable building materials.”


South Korea: Cement packaging will now be required to display information on waste materials used in production under the revised Waste Management Act, the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment has announced. The regulation mandates that packaging show the types and amounts of waste materials used as alternative raw materials. A ministry source said “The outer surface of the packaging will only display the types of waste materials input, and scanning the QR code will link to a detailed information page about heavy metals and other components.”

Combustible waste such as tyres is also used as kiln fuel. The ministry said that South Korea is the first country to legally require disclosure of the kinds of waste material used in cement. The government is also pursuing revisions to the Housing Act to ensure that the types of cement used in new buildings are publicly disclosed.


Ukraine: PrJSC Mykolaivcement recorded a 1.9-fold rise in net profit to US$10.9m between January and September 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. Income from ordinary activities grew by 34% year-on-year to US$45.6m, while gross profit rose by 48% to US$17m. Retained earnings fell by 81% to US$2.6m. In the third quarter of 2025, the company produced 204,500t of cement worth US$12.5m and sold 210,700t for US$20m.

Mykolaivcement said its operations were affected by martial law, exchange rate fluctuations and reduced construction activity due to the political and economic situation in the country. The company cited labour shortages, slow economic recovery and geopolitical instability as continuing challenges.


Pakistan: Local cement despatches rose by 15% year-on-year to 3.93Mt in October 2025, up from 3.41Mt in October 2024, according to the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA). Exports fell by 23% from 1.1Mt to 0.83Mt, bringing total despatches to 4.75Mt, an increase of 6% year-on-year. In the first four months of the 2026 financial year, total despatches reached 17.3Mt, up by 15% from 15Mt a year earlier. Domestic sales rose by 18% to 13.9Mt, while exports increased by 6% year-on-year from 3.22Mt to 3.42Mt.

An APCMA spokesman said “The decline in exports over the past two months is a matter of concern. If this trend continues, it may dent our hopes of a full cement sector revival.”


India: Ambuja Cements recorded a profit after tax of US$259m in the second quarter of the 2026 financial year (FY2026), which runs from July to September, up from US$55.8m in the same period of the 2025 financial year. Revenue from operations rose by 18% year-on-year, from US$850m to US$1.03bn.

CEO Vinod Bahety said “This quarter has been noteworthy for the cement industry. Despite the headwinds from prolonged monsoons, the sector will benefit from the tailwinds of several favourable developments including GST 2.0 reforms, the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS), and the withdrawal of coal cess (tax). We have upped our FY2028 target capacity by 15Mt/yr, from 140Mt/yr to 155Mt/yr. This increase of 15Mt/yr from debottlenecking initiatives will come at a much lower capex of US$48/t.”Bahety said that debottlenecking of plant logistics infrastructure will also increase the utilisation of the company’s existing capacity of 107Mt/yr by 3%.


Europe: Capsol Technologies has signed a rental agreement with a large European cement producer for a six-month CapsolGo carbon capture and liquefaction demonstration campaign at a cement plant. Delivery and testing of the unit are scheduled for the first quarter of 2026. The turnkey project will include installation, operation and testing to generate operational data supporting the producer’s future carbon capture and storage investment decisions. The campaign follows a previously completed CapsolEoP feasibility study.

CEO Wendy Lam said “We're proud to support the European cement producer on its path toward decarbonisation and to demonstrate how our carbon capture solution can deliver efficient, cost-effective emissions reductions in hard-to-abate sectors. During the carbon capture and liquefaction process, we will perform an extensive gas and liquid analysis to support the producer's CCS investment decisions in what will be our fourth demonstration campaign for the cement industry.”


Egypt: Cement production rose to 17.6Mt between January and April 2025, up from 13.4Mt in the same period of 2024, according to data from the Central Bank of Egypt. Cement sales also grew to 14.1Mt, a year-on-year increase of 17%. The Cement Producers Division reports that 19 companies are operating in Egypt, with total investments exceeding US$4.8bn.

Cement exports reportedly reached US$770m in 2023, up by 14%, and US$780m in the first 10 months of 2024, up by 12%. The Export Council for Building Materials said that Egyptian cement was exported to 95 countries, led by African markets.


Egypt: The Maritime Transport Sector has reported that Egyptian ports will receive 170,000t of coal, out of a total of 500,000t of clean dry bulk cargo being delivered on the week commencing 3 November 2025.

Shipments include 60,000t of US coal for the National Cement Company at Beni Suef via Alexandria Port, 50,000t of Turkish coal for the National Cement Company at East Port Said, and a further 60,000t of US coal for Heidelberg Materials Suez Cement.


France: The Lafarge group and several former senior officials will stand trial in Paris from 4 November 2025, accused of historically financing terrorist organisations, including Islamic State (IS). The aim of the alleged payments was to maintain operations at a cement plant in Jalabiya, northern Syria. The defendants include former CEO Bruno Lafont, five former managers and two Syrian intermediaries. They face charges of financing a terrorist enterprise and, for some, breaching international financial sanctions.

Lafarge Cement Syria (LCS), the group’s Syrian subsidiary, is suspected of paying several million Euros between 2013 and 2014 to jihadi groups IS and Jabhat al-Nusra to secure raw materials and allow the movement of employees and goods. The €680m Jalabiya plant, completed in 2010, continued operating until IS took control in September 2014, two years after most other multinationals had left Syria.

An internal investigation in 2017 found ‘violations of Lafarge’s business code of conduct.’ Lafarge, which merged with Holcim in 2015, has said the events predated the merger.  In October 2022, Lafarge pleaded guilty in the US to paying IS and Jabhat al-Nusra nearly US$6m and agreed to pay a US$778m penalty.

Former CEO Lafont has denied knowledge of the payments. His lawyers argue that the US plea “is a blatant attack on the presumption of innocence” and aimed to “preserve the economic interests of a large group.”

So far, 241 civil parties have joined the case. “More than ten years after the events, the former Syrian employees will finally be able to testify about what they endured: the checkpoint crossings, the kidnappings and the constant threat hanging over their lives,” said Sherpa legal officer Anna Kiefer. Lafarge faces a fine of up to €1.125m for financing terrorism, while penalties for violating the embargo could reach ten times the value of the offence. A separate investigation into alleged complicity in crimes against humanity in Syria and Iraq remains ongoing.


US: Eagle Materials reported ‘record’ revenues of US$639m for the second quarter of the 2026 financial year, ending on 30 September 2025. Net earnings were US$137m and adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were US$233m. Cement revenues, including joint venture and intersegment sales, rose by 9% to US$385m, while operating earnings increased by 3% to US$120m, partially offset by lower cement prices. Cement sales volumes grew by 8% to 2.2Mt.

President and CEO Michael Haack said “Eagle's portfolio of businesses continued to perform well during the quarter, generating record revenues of $639m. Our cement sales volume was up by 8% as demand remained strong, driven primarily by federal, state and local spending on public infrastructure projects and continued elevated spending across private non-residential construction end markets.”

He added “We enter the second half of fiscal 2026 well-positioned to capitalise on near-and-longer-term growth opportunities, including the future recovery of the housing market, given our strong balance sheet and continued investments in upgrading our assets and network. During the second quarter, we continued to make good progress on modernising and expanding our Mountain Cement plant, and the project remains on time and within budget. This investment will lower the plant's cost structure, improve its reliability and expand its production capabilities, which will strengthen our already low-cost competitive position.”


Denmark: FLSmidth has announced that it has now closed the sale of its cement business to an affiliate of global private equity firm Pacific Avenue Capital Partners. The company said that the transaction does not change its previously announced financial guidance for the full year 2025.

The company previously announced that it had entered into this agreement in June 2025, for a total value of €75m.


Uzbekistan: The Uzpromstroymaterialy Association reported that national cement production was 18Mt between January and September 2025, up by 28% year-on-year. Total installed capacity is now 40.5Mt/yr across 42 enterprises, an increase of 0.7Mt/yr from 2024. The rise in production of high-quality grades such as M-500 and M-600 cement led to an 89% decline in imports, which totalled 66,000t in the first nine months of 2025. Imports for the first half of 2025 were 38,000t, down by 91% from 2024.

Cement exports in the first nine months of 2025 were nearly 1.1Mt, almost four times higher than in the same period of 2024. The association said that the CIS free trade regime is supporting the expansion of foreign markets for Uzbek producers, while imports from CIS countries remain duty-free. It said that the competitiveness of domestic producers, their strong supply to the local market and rising export potential are strengthening Uzbekistan’s economic independence.


Italy: Federbeton, which represents the cement and concrete industry, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Assocarta, the association of paper, cardboard and pulp producers, to develop synergies in circular economy and decarbonisation initiatives.

The agreement aims to recover paper industry waste as a resource for reducing CO₂ emissions in cement production. Recycled waste and sludge will be used to produce solid fuel recovered (SRF). The protocol includes joint technical discussions to identify suitable recovery conditions, cooperation in securing national and EU funding and engagement with public authorities to improve regulatory frameworks.

Federbeton president Stefano Gallini said “If decarbonisation is a systemic challenge, achieving this goal necessarily requires collaboration and shared commitment. The agreement with Assocarta stems precisely from this awareness and is a concrete tool to accelerate the path towards carbon neutrality. Replacing fossil fuels with solutions like SRF represents an immediate opportunity for the environment, the community and the country's energy independence. It is a lever already widely adopted in Europe, where the average substitution rate is 56%. In Italy, we still stand at 26%, due to inconsistent application of regulations and cultural mistrust.”


Spain: Molins recorded a net profit of €141m in the first nine months of 2025, down by 8% year-on-year, mainly due to the depreciation of the Mexican and Argentine currencies. On a like-for-like basis, net profit rose by 3% compared with the corresponding period in 2024. Revenues were €1bn, 2% lower than the same period last year, but up by 7% at constant exchange rates, driven by selling price adjustments amid slowing demand and global uncertainty. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) totalled €263m, down by 4%, but up by 6% at constant currencies, supported by higher operating efficiency and favourable pricing effects. The company also achieved one of its 2030 Sustainability Roadmap goals, reducing its clinker factor below 67%, placing it ahead of its 2030 target.


Saudi Arabia: City Cement recorded a 6% year-on-year fall in net profit to US$25.8m in the first nine months of 2025, down from US$27.5m in 2024. This was despite a 7% rise in revenues to US$103m from US$96.5m.

In the third quarter of 2025, the company’s net profit dropped by 74% year-on-year to US$2.3m from US$9m, while revenues fell by 26% to US$25.8m from US$34.8m. Quarter-on-quarter, profit declined by 76% from US$9.7m in the second quarter of 2025, with revenues down by 31% from US$37.3m.


Vietnam: Domestic cement sales reached about 18Mt in the third quarter of 2025, equal to 79% of second-quarter levels, according to the Construction Industry Development Centre (CIDC). The decline was attributed to prolonged storms and seasonal factors that disrupted operations and transport. Rising electricity, raw material and fuel costs also put pressure on production costs and profit margins.

By contrast, cement and clinker exports rose to nearly 9.5Mt, up on both the previous quarter and the first nine months of 2024. The increase was driven by efforts to expand into new markets in the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe, offsetting lower demand from the US, Taiwan and the Philippines. The Vietnam Cement Market Report noted that export profit margins remain under pressure due to high logistics costs and falling prices. The US’ 20% import tax on Vietnamese cement and Taiwan’s anti-dumping duties (in place until 2030) are also prompting companies to reassess pricing and market strategies.

According to the Vietnam Association of Building Materials, the final months of 2025 will bring ‘continued challenges’ from rising energy and input costs, but improving weather, faster public investment disbursement and signs of recovery in real estate are expected to boost demand for construction materials.


Kenya: Cement production rose to 920,000t in August 2025, up by 1% month-on-month from 907,000t in July 2025, keeping pace with rising demand. Consumption also reached a record 907,000t, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).

The rebound follows the release of US$487m by the Treasury earlier in 2025 to clear unpaid bills to contractors, which allowed hundreds of stalled road and infrastructure projects to resume. The sector had previously contracted by 3% in the quarter ending June 2025 due to budget cuts, high material costs and reduced private lending.


Afghanistan: Ghori Cement Factory in Baghlan has more than doubled its daily cement production from 250-300t to 700t, according to Shafiullah Wahidi, head of the plant. He said that both the first and second units are operating normally, while construction of the third unit is ‘progressing rapidly’. Wahidi said that a third unit will be completed within 18 months, at an estimated cost of US$86m, increasing the plant’s total production capacity to 5000t/day.