Syria: The General Company for Cement and Building Materials Industry and Marketing (OMRAN) received clinker shipments from Egyptian company Cisco on 7 March 2026, following a memorandum of understanding signed in Cairo on 29 January 2026. The deliveries will support cement production at Syrian plants and are being carried out in phases based on local market demand and plant production capacity. OMRAN director Mahmoud Fadila said that the shipments aim to stabilise cement prices in the domestic market and reduce production costs by ensuring availability of raw materials.

Argentina: Cement despatches were 0.71Mt in February 2026, down by 6% year-on-year from 0.74Mt in February 2025 and down by 12% month-on-month from 0.79Mt in January 2026. Domestic despatches reached 0.7Mt and exports were 4414t. Cement consumption reached 0.7Mt in February 2026, down by 5% year-on-year from 0.73Mt in February 2025 and down by 12% month-on-month. Total consumption for the first two months of 2026 was 1.48Mt.

Saudi Arabia: Cement sales fell by 11% year-on-year and by 16% month-on-month to 4.28Mt in February 2026, according to a report by Al Rajhi Capital, reflecting weaker demand due to Ramadan. Yamama Cement recorded growth of 12% year-on-year and held a 15% market share in February 2026. Clinker inventories fell by 0.3% month-on-month to 42.7Mt. Geographically, the Eastern region was the sole region that reported growth of 1.5% year-on-year, mainly driven by Eastern Cement, which saw growth of 17% year-on-year, while sales in the Northern and Southern region plunged by 22% and 16%, respectively.

Among the companies covered, Riyadh Cement held the lowest inventory at four months of the last twelve 12 months’ average sales, followed by Saudi Cement and Yamama Cement at six months and Qassim Cement at nine months. Najran Cement held 13 months of inventory, Arabian Cement 14 months and Yanbu Cement 15 months, while Southern Cement held the highest level at 20 months.

Germany: Heidelberg Materials has announced that it will permanently close its 0.4Mt/yr-capacity Paderborn cement plant in North Rhine-Westphalia due to a ‘significant’ decline in cement sales driven by weak construction demand in Germany in the current economic conditions. The company said that the measure forms part of its ongoing optimisation of its European production network and a shift towards clinker-reduced cements produced across its sites. It said that as customers can now source clinker-reduced cements from the company’s sites throughout the country, the Paderborn plant is ‘losing its unique position’ within the group.

The closure affects 53 employees. The company said it is developing ‘socially responsible’ solutions in close consultation with the workers’ council, including transfers to nearby plants such as Geseke and Ennigerloh into positions created through early retirement programmes.

The activities of subsidiary Mineralik in the Paderborn quarry and operation of the local ready-mix concrete plant will continue. The Paderborn plant operated the smallest rotary kiln in Heidelberg Materials’ German operations and, since 2022, it had been used to produce Ternocem low-carbon cement in trial operation. Further development of Ternocem will continue at another site in the future.