October 2025

Mexico: Cemex has embarked upon a cost cutting exercise following a drop of sales volumes in 2024. Sales volumes of cement, ready-mixed concrete (RMX) and aggregates all fell in 2024. This in turn reduced sales revenue, despite higher prices and earnings. The group’s sales volumes of cement decreased by 2% year-on-year to 44.3Mt in 2024 from 45.2Mt in 2023. RMX sales volumes dropped by 6% to 44Mm³ from 46.8Mm³. Sales revenue and operating earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) dipped by 2% to US$16.2Bn and by 2% to US$3.08Bn respectively.

Sales and earnings rose on a like-for-like basis in Mexico and South, Central America and the Caribbean but fell elsewhere. In Mexico the group noted a strong first half of 2024 followed by a poor second half. In the US it reported a number of ‘extreme’ weather events. In Europe, Middle East, and Africa it said a recovery trend in earnings was observed in the second half of the year.

In response the company has launched ‘Project Cutting Edge,’ a three-year, US$350m saving programme intended to streamline operations, improve efficiency and further use of digital technology throughout the business. The initiative is anticipated to deliver US$150m in incremental EBITDA in 2025 and expected to reach a run-rate of US$350m by 2027.

Fernando A González, CEO of Cemex, said “With the recovery of our investment grade ratings, improved free cash flow generation and the execution of US$2.2bn in asset divestments, we can now pursue more aggressively our capital allocation priorities of growth through small to medium-sized acquisitions, primarily in the US, additional deleveraging, and building further on our shareholder return programs.”

US: Titan Group expects to generate US$365m from the initial public offering (IPO) of its subsidiary Titan America. The latter company has priced its IPO of 24 million common shares at US$16/share. The IPO is expected to close on 10 February 2025, subject to customary closing conditions.

Titan America expects to receive net proceeds of approximately US$137m from the IPO. Some of these funds will be used to support investments in technologies, the company’s growth strategy and acquisitions. Parent company Titan Cement International expects to generate US$228m. Following completion, Titan Cement will retain a 87% share of Titan America.

Japan: Sumitomo Corporation has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with US-based Fortera to conduct a feasibility study to build a low-carbon cement plant. The project will be run with subsidiary Sumitomo Osaka Cement. The aim is to then build a pilot plant in Japan by the 2026 financial year. Sumitomo Corporation is also considering expanding the business model developed in Japan to other parts of Asia.

Tajikistan: The Ministry of Industry and New Technologies has blamed falling cement production in Tajikistan on growth in production in neighbouring Uzbekistan. It also noted rising output in Afghanistan, according to Asia-Plus. Local production fell by 2% year-on-year to 4.35Mt in 2024 from 4.46Mt in 2023. Ministry data shows that exports of cement from Tajikistan dropped by 30% to 0.29Mt from 0.66Mt. In November 2024 Uzbekistan sharply increased customs clearance fees on Tajik cement to US$300/t from US$35/t.

Italy: Federbeton, the Italian cement association, has expressed alarm that the high price of gas is adding €80m/yr to the cost of cement production. Nicola Zampella, the general manager of Federbeton, called for an ‘urgent’ change to the national energy system to make it more equitable, sustainable and competitive, according to Adnkronos. He recommended energy diversification, further encouraging the use of alternative fuels, simplifying regulations, making investing and supporting sustainable technologies easier and adding incentives to use carbon capture and storage.

India: JK Lakshmi Cement’s net sales fell by 15% year-on-year to US$453m in the nine months to 31 December 2024 from US$534m in the same period in 2023. Its sales volumes of cement dropped by 9% to 6.44Mt from 7.06Mt. Its profit after tax decreased to US$25.6m from US$32.2m.

US: Summit Materials says that it has obtained the stockholder approval required for its proposed acquisition by Quikrete. The transaction is expected to close within the first quarter of 2025, subject to any remaining customary conditions. Once complete, Summit Materials will become a privately-held subsidiary of Quikrete.

Quikrete entered into a definitive agreement to buy Summit Materials for a total enterprise value of US$11.5bn in November 2024. The deal will add Summit Materials’ aggregates, cement and ready-mixed concrete business to Quikrete’s concrete and cement-based products business to create a vertically integrated business in North America.

India: UltraTech Cement has commissioned an additional 0.6Mt/yr grinding capacity at its integrated Sonar Bangla plant in West Bengal. It said the upgrade would help it meet cement demand in East India and enable it to increase its blended cement ratio. The company says that its domestic cement production capacity is now 166Mt/yr with an additional 5Mt/yr overseas.

Japan: Mitsubishi UBE Cement Corporation (MUCC) has developed a carbon-negative artificial sand product called ‘GX-e Beads.’ It is made from by-products containing calcium and uses a proprietary accelerated carbonation technology developed by MUCC to absorb CO₂ at 80 - 250kg/t from flue gas and other sources. A further granulation and solidification stage is then used to manufacture the final artificial fine aggregates, making it net-carbon negative. The artificial sand can be produced via a dry process at ambient temperature conditions. It requires no special reaction equipment.

The product can be used as a fine aggregate to make normal-strength concrete. MUCC says “…when used in conjunction with ordinary Portland cement (OPC) or blended cement, fresh properties and strength development equivalent to or better than that of normal concrete can be obtained. Therefore, it can be widely applied to ready-mix concrete and secondary concrete products.”

Pakistan: Thatta Cement has signed a memorandum of understanding with China-based Qing Gong Construction Group to build a 5000t/day production line. They concluded the deal during a state visit by President Asif Ali Zardari to China, according to the Radio Pakistan. Other agreements were also signed in sectors including renewable energy.