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This week we got our first real sense of how things are going at the new global cement leader LafargeHolcim. The group released its first 'combined' results, which cover the third quarter of the year and the nine month period to 30 September 2015.

First impressions are that LafargeHolcim is having a tough time of it, struggling, as many cement industry players are, with an increasingly tricky and uneven global market. It reported a fall in net sales and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the first nine months of 2015, compared to the same period of 2014. Cement sales were also down by 1.3%. The group said that lower than expected demand was the reason behind lower sales, particularly in China and Brazil, which continue to struggle economically. It also picked out India as a country where momentum was lacking.

Of course, it's not all bad. While net sales were down, they were only down very slightly, by 0.6% year-on-year in the first nine months. Many a cement producer would love to pull in Euro20.4bn in sales and ship 189Mt of cement in just nine months! And, after a sticky start to the year, the picture is improving in some regions, with third quarter performance buoyed by improving fortunes in Asia, excluding China and India. LafargeHolcim was able to continue banking on the strong recovery in North America and parts of Europe, where some markets, such as the UK, continue to buck the otherwise depressing trend.

While these results will be a concern they are by no means horrific. However, they have already given rise to (or at least sped up) LafargeHolcim's future divestment plans. According to Dow Jones, LafargeHolcim plans to raise Euro3.23bn in 2016 from selling off assets, around half as much as Lafarge and Holcim had to sell to allow the merger to go through. The company has reportedly started discussions with interested parties, including private-equity firms and industry rivals about some of the assets. The proceeds will be returned to shareholders through dividends or share buybacks, according to CEO Eric Olsen.

Which assets will be divested remains to be seen. However, it reportedly won't involve LafargeHolcim's assets in Australia and New Zealand, at least in the short term. In the past week or so local media has reported that LafargeHolcim's assets in the two countries were to be sold off. However, since then Holcim Australia's Chief Executive Mark Campbell said the company was 'not currently being sold.' Campbell also added that he couldn't rule out a possible sale in the future.

So, while being clear that LafargeHolcim has no plans to sell its Australian and New Zealand assets at the moment, what could happen if it did? The starting point is complex, especially in Australia. According to the Global Cement Directory 2016, there are six operational integrated cement plants and 12 grinding plants in the country, which share a combined 13.9Mt/yr of cement capacity. LafargeHolcim has a 50% interest in Cement Australia's 4.0Mt of cement capacity, giving it 2Mt/yr of capacity and around 14% of national capacity. The other 50% of Cement Australia is owned by HeidelbergCement. Other major players include Adelaide Brighton, which has 2.3Mt/yr in its own name and a 50% stake in Independent Cement, and Boral Cement, which owns 2.3Mt/yr of capacity outright and 50% of SunState Cement's 1.5Mt/yr of capacity. In New Zealand there are two integrated plants, one operated by Golden Bay Cement and one by LafargeHolcim. The latter, however, is due to be closed in 2016.

If LafargeHolcim was to leave the mix in Australia, it is possible that neither Adelaide Brighton nor Boral would be able to take over its share, due to their already-large market presences. This may leave the door open for other regional players, perhaps a Chinese player looking to exit that country's rapidly-declining domestic market? Cemex is contracting and still heavily indebted, leaving it out of the running. While it is also possible that assets could be sold to private equity firms, another interested player could be Ireland's CRH, with 'cash to burn' and recent disappointment from its failure to buy Lafarge and Holcim's former assets in India.

Of course, if the assets aren't for sale, it won't be possible to buy them, meaning that for now the above is just speculation. However, the quick analysis above does highlight the relative lack of viable cement industry suitors in this region. If LafargeHolcim does ever decide to sell in this region, it might find the assets hard to shift.

Sri Lanka: Harsha Cabral was appointed as the Director of Tokyo Cement Company Lanka one year ago on 1 December 2014. Cabral was appointed to the Board in March 2009

Qatar: Al Khalij Cement Company has added a duplicate production line to take its total cement production capacity to 15,500t/day, which will help Qatar meet rising cement demand in view of the strategic infrastructure projects being undertaken ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

"We can say that we are now the largest producer of Ordinary Portland Cement in Qatar," said Al Khalij Cement Company's Managing Director Faisal bin Abdullah al-Mana. Highlighting that the estimated total cement demand in Qatar is 20,000 - 22,000t/day, al-Mana said that, with the addition of production capacity from Al Khalij, the country will be able to meet the growing demand domestically.

In 2013, Denmark's FLSmidth won a US$95.9m order for the supply of a complete cement production line for Al Khalij's plant in Umm Bab. The production line is identical to the existing line, which was supplied by FLSmidth in 2007. The strategy to have identical production lines, according to al-Mana, will make the maintenance and sourcing of spare parts easier.

Morocco: Spanish mortar producer Grupo Puma and Italian cement maker Italcementi have signed an agreement for the construction of a plant in Morocco.

The companies have set up a joint venture named Meastro Drymix, which will distribute the products in Morocco. Meastro Drymix was incorporated in May 2015 by FYM, the Spanish subsidiary of Italcementi, and Grupo Puma.

Australasia: LafargeHolcim has said that, despite what has been reported recently in the media, its Australian and New Zealand operations are not for sale.

LafargeHolcim recently announced a plan to divest almost US$5bn of assets in 2016 after posting unexpectedly weak third-quarter results. Speculation had emerged that it might exit from the Australasia region.

However, according to local media, an internal email sent to staff on 30 November 2015, Holcim Australia Chief Executive Mark Campbell said the company was 'not currently being sold,' but could not rule out an exit in the long term.

"I have checked whether the LafargeHolcim group had made a decision to sell the businesses in Australia and New Zealand and started a sale process without my knowledge and the answer I have received is 'no,'" said Campbell. "That said, organisations change focus over time and it is impossible to say that we will always be part of the LafargeHolcim group."

Australian-listed rivals, including Boral, Fletcher Building and Adelaide Brighton, are seen as potential acquirers, should the multinational giant choose to sell off its local arm. Ireland's CRH may also be interested. However, Morgan Stanley said that many of LafargeHolcim's local competitors might run into competition issues, given that the market is concentrated among several large players. "Should Adelaide Brighton fully participate, we cannot rule out that the 50% share in Cement Australia would be divested due to Australian regulations, given Adelaide Brighton's already strong share in cement," said Morgan Stanley Analyst James Rutledge. "While we think Fletcher Building is unlikely to be in a position to participate in industry consolidation, a change in owner that was less integrated into the region may be a positive for Fletcher Building at the margin," said Rutledge. "Given Boral's strong share in aggregates and the concrete market, we believe it will be difficult to participate in industry consolidation."

While Lafarge has a limited local presence in Australia and New Zealand, Holcim bought a string of Australian assets from Mexico's Cemex in 2009 for US$2bn and now boasts more than 350 sites nationwide.

China: Anhui Conch has agreed to more than double its stake in smaller rival West China Cement for US$592m amid consolidation in an industry suffering from overcapacity.

Conch International Holdings (HK) Ltd, a wholly owned unit of Anhui Conch, plans to increase its holding in Shaanxi-based West China to 51.57% from the current 21.17%. If the transaction goes through, Anhui Conch will make a mandatory cash offer for all of the shares of West China that it doesn't already own.

West China agreed to buy four units of Anhui Conch and will issue shares in itself to pay for the purchase. West China will issue 3.403 billion shares at US$0.17 each for a total of US$592m. The issuance will raise Anhui Conch's stake in West China. Should Anhui Conch be required to make an offer for the rest of West China, it will pay US$0.22 in cash for each share.

Turkmenistan: Turkmenistan has produced around 3.3Mt of cement since early 2015, in part due to the completion of a 1.4Mt/yr plant was put into operation by Turkish Polimeks in Lebap. The plant produces portland cement, oil well cement and sulphate-resistant cement used in hydraulic units. Polimeks also put into operation a similar plant in Balkan.

Italy: Italy's antitrust authority has opened an investigation into four cement companies for alleged price fixing and, with the tax police, has searched the offices of the companies, according to Reuters. The companies under investigation are Buzzi Unicem, Cementir Italia, Industria Cementi Giovanni Rossi and Holcim Italia.

"The case concerns the possibility of an agreement to coordinate cement sales price increases," said the authority in a statement.

Holcim Italia, part of LafargeHolcim, confirmed the inspections. It said that the company had always acted according to the law and has 'policies and procedures in place that are designed to ensure compliance with principles and rules of fair competition prohibiting anti-competitive behaviour and the abuse of a dominant market position.' Buzzi said that it is confident that it will be able to demonstrate during the investigation that it had always acted in compliance with competition law.

Vietnam: Cong Thanh Group held a ceremony to mark the first batch of cement made by its second production line at its cement plant in Thanh Hoa. The new line has a capacity of 12,500t/day of clinker or 3.6Mt/yr of cement.

The line will help contribute to the province's industrial production growth and contribute US$26.7m to the provincial budget. Vietnam now has 76 cement production lines with a combined output of 81.6Mt/yr. The ministry has estimated that Vietnam's cement and clinker sales in 2015 will reach 71.5 - 72Mt in 2015, fulfilling the year's target, including 55 – 55.5Mt of domestic sales, rising by 9 - 9.5% year-on-year. Clinker exports are likely to fall by 19% to 16.5Mt, meeting 85% of the whole-year target.

India: UltraTech Cement is reportedly in advanced discussions with Reliance Infrastructure on the sale of its cement units.

Reliance Infrastructure put up its cement units for sale in October 2015 to reduce its US$3.86bn debt. The company earned a revenue of US$56.7m from its 5.5Mt/yr of operational capacity in July - September 2015. Reliance Infrastructure's cement units are expected to fetch an enterprise valuation of US$749 - 824m.