Displaying items by tag: Europe

Ireland: CRH recorded a 2% year-on-year increase in sales to US$35.6bn in 2024, with net income rising by 15% to US$3.5bn during the period. The producer's earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 12% year-on-year to US$6.9bn.

In the fourth quarter of 2024, the company's sales rose by 2% year-on-year to US$8.9bn, while its net income increased by 24% to US$700m and its EBITDA by 12% to US$1.8bn.

CRH invested US$5bn in mergers and acquisitions during 2024. It maintains a positive outlook for the 2025 financial year, forecasting a net income of US$3.7 – US$4.1bn and an EBITDA of US$7.3 – US$7.7bn.

Spain: Molins has recorded a 22% year-on-year rise in net profit to €184m in 2024, despite market slowdowns and political instability in some regions.

Molins’ revenues grew by 1% year-on-year to €1.37bn in 2024, as price increases offset volume declines and currency effects. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 6% to €356m, with its operations in Europe, South America and North Africa showing growth. Mexico reportedly remains its largest contributor to results. The company increased investments by 31% to €98m, with 70% going to sustainability, digitisation and efficiency improvements.

Belgium: Gebr. Pfeiffer has received an order for an MVR 5000 R-4 vertical roller mill. The mill is intended for a new 4800t/day line at Holcim Belgique's Obourg cement plant, the site of the GO4ZERO decarbonisation project.

The mill will grind 370t/hr of cement raw material to a fineness of ≤15%R to 0.090mm and reduce moisture content from 4% to <0.7%. The mill is expected to reduce both emissions and specific operating costs.

Chinese contractor CBMI is managing the installation, with commissioning planned for the second half of 2025. The mill will be integrated into the plant's oxyfuel operations to achieve efficiency in the CO₂ capture process.

Denmark: FLSmidth's cement revenues fell by 26% year-on-year to US$616m in 2024.
Cement gross profit fell by 3% to US$204m. The producer attributed the decline to divestments and withdrawal from project-orientated business.

Group revenues, including both the Mining and Cement businesses, fell by 16% year-on-year to US$2.8bn. Group gross profit rose by 8% year-on-year to US$905m.

The company said that it expects the short-term outlook for the cement industry to remain impacted by ‘macroeconomic uncertainty’.

France: Vicat recorded consolidated sales of €3.9bn, a year-on-year decrease of 1%, in 2024. It cited negative exchange rates, including for the Turkish Lira and Egyptian Pound. €1.16bn in sales came from its operations in France and €1bn from its US operations. It also reported earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of €783m, up by 6% year-on-year. Its Cement business underwent a 3% decline in volumes during the year, driven by declines in France and India. Demand in France reportedly reached a 25-year low. The company noted an increase in the use of alternative fuels to 36% and has set itself the target of lowering its direct specific emissions to 497kg of CO₂ per tonne of cement equivalent and to 430kg CO₂ per tonne of cement equivalent in Europe by 2030. At the end of 2024, these figures stood at 576kg and 497kg respectively.

At the end of 2024, the Group's financial structure remains ‘solid,’ with net debt down by €185m over 2024. In 2025, it will aim for an increase in sales on a like-for-like basis and ‘low single-digit’ EBITDA growth.

Guy Sidos, chair and CEO of Vicat, said "In a deteriorated environment in Europe, the group has delivered historic results. We have witnessed strong growth in the US and progress in the Mediterranean region. I am confident that 2025 will be another successful year for Vicat, thanks to continued momentum in the US, stabilisation in Europe and the first contribution from our investment in Senegal.”

Europe: Sweden-based SaltX has signed a letter of intent with German engineering firm thyssenkrupp Polysius to collaborate on establishing 100% electric cement production facilities in Europe. The facilities will combine SaltX’s electric arc calciner (EAC) technology with thyssenkrupp Polysius’ material handling solutions.

CEO of SaltX Lina Jorheden said "Strong partnerships are essential for us to effectively implement our technology and reduce millions of tonnes of CO₂ emissions from the industrial sector. Our collaboration with thyssenkrupp Polysius is crucial for developing complementary systems to the EAC technology and building electrified facilities for our customers."

Spain: Cement consumption rose by 8% year-on-year to 1.13Mt in January 2025, according to the latest statistics from Oficemen. Consumption grew by 4% year-on-year to nearly 15Mt in the 12 months to January 2025. Exports increased by 12% year-on-year to 323,000t in January 2025, but fell by 5% year-on-year during the 12-month period.

General director Aniceto Zaragoza said "In this regard, we are cautiously observing the evolution of US tariff measures, as it is the fourth destination for Spanish cement exports, with 11% of the total. However, we are confident that sales to the intra-community market, in which Spain maintains a leading position, will remain stable."

Sweden: Heidelberg Materials has successfully operated a 300kW plasma-heated cement kiln at its Slite cement plant, which it claims is the first of its kind. The producer has achieved 54 hours of continuous operation, with 60% CO₂ concentration in the flue gas. The aim is to reach 99%.

The kiln is part of the ELECTRA project, which aims to replace traditional combustion processes with electricity-based solutions, like plasma. The project consists of 17 partners from 8 countries.

Project manager Bodil Wilhelmsson said "It looks very promising. We started the tests at the end of last year and can now say with certainty that this is the right way to go: we will be able to produce clinker with plasma."

Fuel-related CO₂ emissions from cement production are eliminated because no fuel needs to be used in the production process. Instead, CO₂ is heated to over 5000°C, where it becomes a plasma jet that heats the material in the kiln.

Wilhelmsson added "The absence of fuel in the process means that there is no ash in the product. This means that a parameter that could affect the quality of the product if it fluctuates is no longer considered. So, it looks like the quality of the clinker can actually be slightly higher in this process."

Heidelberg Materials plans to build a 1MW kiln in Skövde cement plant in 2026, where further tests will continue.

Spain: Molins and Enagás have formalised an agreement to promote their Mosusol netCO₂ carbon capture and storage (CCS) project for EU Innovation Fund backing. The project will capture 1Mt/yr of CO₂ at Molins’ cement plant in Sant Vicenç dels Horts, near Barcelona, to be transported by Enagás for storage. The project will cost an estimated €590m.

Molins CEO Marcos Cela said "The Mosusol netCO₂ Project is an example of our firm commitment to the decarbonisation of the construction sector. Our goal is to achieve carbon neutrality at our Sant Vicenç dels Horts plant by 2031."

Alpacem said this week that it had completed its acquisition of the Fanna cement plant near Pordenone. The 0.66Mt/yr integrated plant and a number of ready-mixed concrete plants became part of the Austria-headquartered group at the start of February 2025. Alpacem now has three integrated plants, with units at Wietersdorf in Austria and Anhovo in Slovenia, in addition to Fanna.

The deal dates back to mid-2023 when Alpacem said it had signed an agreement with Buzzi. In return Buzzi was set to receive a 25% stake in Alpacem Zement Austria. Prior to this the two companies had a strategic partnership in Austria and Slovenia that dated back to 2014. At the time of the agreement Buzzi held a 25% share in each of two Alpacem subsidiaries: Salonit Anhovo in Slovenia; and W&P Cementi in Italy. The Fanna plant was originally owned by Cementizillo before it was bought by Buzzi in 2018.

Also this week, Federbeton warned that the high cost of gas would add €80m/yr to the cost of cement production. Nicola Zampella, General Manager of Federbeton and the cement association AITEC, noted that local energy costs would reduce the competitiveness of producers against imports from outside of the European Union (EU). This ties into comments Stefano Gallini, the president of Federbeton, made in December 2024 when he highlighted the growing share of imports from outside the EU.

Federbeton raised the issue in its annual report for 2023, showing that imports rose to a 19% production share in 2023. Italy produced 18.8Mt of and imported 3.6Mt of cement and clinker in 2023. This is its highest level of imports for at least a decade. Over the same period the country’s cement exports, as a share of production, have remained steady at around 10 - 11%. In 2023 Türkiye was the biggest source of imports (25%) followed by Greece (17%), Slovenia (17%), Tunisia (12%) and Algeria (10%).

Graph 1: Cement production, imports and exports in Italy, 2019 - 2023. Source: Federbeton.

It is worth recalling that the cement sector in Italy used to be larger before it started consolidating in the late 2000s. Italcementi was acquired by Germany-based Heidelberg Materials. Operations by Sacci, Cementir and Cemenzillo were all bought out too. Local cement production reached a high of 47.9Mt in 2006 before it stabilised at around 20Mt/yr from 2015 onwards.

In its preliminary results for 2024, out this week too, Buzzi reported that the construction market In Italy probably shrank in 2024 due to a poor residential housing market. However, the cement company managed to keep its local net sales stable by raising prices and focusing on exports. Despite this, it noted a drop in cement and concrete sales volumes at the end of 2024. More data on the construction market in Italy may emerge when Heidelberg Materials releases its 2024 financial results at the end of February 2025.

The backdrop to this has been a rise in gas prices in Europe towards the end of 2024 as the EU ‘emergency’ price cap finished on 31 January 2025. Around the same time the EU is preparing to reveal information on its Clean Industry Deal towards the end of February 2025. Plus, the first active phase of EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is preparing to enter into force from the start of 2026. Each of these issues has implications for the cement sector in Italy as the location associations have been highlighting. One question will be whether the Clean Industry Deal can help producers cope with mounting energy prices. Another will be whether CBAM will change the proportion of imports for countries like Italy or will the sources of the imports simply change. Plenty to consider for the year ahead.