France: HeidelbergCement’s subsidiary Ciments Calcia plans to stop clinker production at two plants as part of a Euro400m investment and reorganisation programme for several of its sites in France. Around Euro300m of this will be spent at the integrated Airvault cement plant. The company also intends to: convert its integrated Gargenville cement plant into a grinding plant and shut down its kiln systems and quarry operations; convert its integrated Cruas white cement plant into an automated cement terminal for the distribution of white cement; and adapt the organisation at its French headquarters at Guerville. The plan will cut 162 jobs and create 20 new ones.
“As part of our global business excellence initiative, we intend to further optimise effectiveness, processes and structures of our French sites,” said Dominik von Achten, chairman of the managing board of HeidelbergCement. “We want to considerably speed up the modernisation of our plants in order to enhance our performance in France, while ensuring alignment with the goals of the Paris agreement. This is why we focus our initiatives on the main CO2-emitting plants in France.”
