Displaying items by tag: North America

Switzerland: Holcim has appointed Steffen Kindler to the role of chief financial officer (CFO), effective from 1 May 2023. Kindler joins the cement producer from Nestlé Deutschland, where he is currently CFO, having held various key business roles in Europe and North America throughout his 25-year career at Nestlé. These included roles of global responsibility for key corporate functions such as investor relations and mergers and acquisitions. Kindler holds a diploma in business administration and computer science from the University of Mannheim and attended Nestlé's leadership programme at London Business School.

Holcim CEO Jan Jenisch said “I am excited to welcome Steffen Kindler to the team. With his vast financial expertise and geographic experience, I am confident he will fit in well with Holcim’s performance-driven culture. Steffen is an ideal partner to contribute to our continued success as we become the global leader in innovative and sustainable building solutions, with a focus on superior value creation for all our stakeholders.”

Current CFO Géraldine Picaud will oversee the completion of the group’s full-year 2022 results and conduct a thorough handover, before continuing her career outside of the company.

Jenisch said “I personally thank Géraldine for her commitment and contributions to Holcim over the past five years. The solid foundations you see today – especially Holcim’s strong balance sheet, solid credit ratings and integration of sustainable finance – are all testimony to her leadership. I wish her much continued success in her future endeavors."

Mexico: Cemex has announced a raft of new carbon capture projects in Europe and North America. When commissioned, they will bring its total installed CO₂ capture capacity to over 3Mt/yr. The projects consist of three front-end engineering (FEED) studies to scale installations of Australia-based Leilac’s direct separation technology at Cemex cement plants in Germany, Poland and the US; a fourth FEED study for 95% capture installation at the Balcones, Texas, cement plant using RTI International's solvent capture technology and a development partnership for the cement industry's most comprehensive carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) studies at eight further cement plants in Europe, Mexico and the US.

Chief executive officer Fernando González said “CCUS brings together the essence of our strategic priorities: sustainability and innovation. Our Future in Action programme to achieve sustainable excellence and become a net-zero company is all about measurable, verified progress towards the most ambitious decarbonisation pathway in the industry. Although CCUS technologies are not ready to be scaled quite yet, it will take relentless work and innovation to ensure their viability in time to avoid the most damaging effects of climate change.”

Ireland: CRH's consolidated sales were US$24.4bn during the first nine months of 2022, up by 13% year-on-year from nine-month 2021 levels. Regional sales grew by 18% in the group's America's Materials business, with a 12% rise in cement sales there, despite a drop in volumes. Elsewhere, for the Europe Materials business, sales remained level year-on-year, and higher pricing offset costs growths in all key markets except Asia and Europe West. The producer's consolidated earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 14% to US$4.2bn.

For the full year 2022, CRH expects to record a profit before tax greater than that of US$3.1bn recorded in 2021.

Chief executive officer Albert Manifold said ‘‘Notwithstanding a challenging and volatile cost environment, I am pleased to report further growth in sales, EBITDA and margin during the first nine months of the year. This performance reflects the resilience of our business and the benefits of our integrated and sustainable solutions strategy. The strength of our balance sheet, combined with our relentless focus on disciplined capital allocation, provides further opportunities to create value for all our stakeholders." Manifold added "Looking ahead to the remainder of 2022, we expect to deliver full-year EBITDA of approximately US$5.5bn."

Australia: James Hardie recorded sales of US$1bn in the first quarter of its 2023 financial year, up by 19% year-on-year from US$843m in the first quarter of its 2022 financial year. Its net profit was US$163m, up by 34% from US$121m. The group increased its North America fibre cement board sales by 28% to US$740m, its Asia Pacific fibre cement board sales by 9% to US$140m and its Europe building products sales by 7% to US$112. James Hardie launched its new European subsidiary James Hardie Fiber Cement Europe during the quarter.

James Hardie lowered its full-year adjusted net profit forecast to US$730 – 780m from US$740 – 820m. Interim chief executive officer Harold Wiens said "The current calendar year has seen the macro-economic environment change around us quite significantly, with unprecedented levels of inflation, global supply chain disruptions and a war in Europe. The current macro-economic environment is not only creating uncertainty for the housing markets in all three regions we do business in, but it is also putting pressure on our fiscal year 2023 financial results due to increased input and freight costs. That said, we are confident we will be able to deliver growth above market and strong returns in fiscal year 2023, and that is reflected in our updated guidance we provided today, which at its midpoint represents 22% growth in adjusted net income versus the prior year."

US: Eagle Materials has recorded consolidated sales in its 2022 financial year of US$1.9bn, up by 15% year-on-year. The group’s adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was US$657m, up by 15%. Full-year cement sales totalled US$1bn, up by 7%, with operating earnings of US$260m, up by 11%. The group’s cement volumes rose by 1% to 7.5Mt.

President and CEO Michael Haack said "As we look back on another extraordinary year, I am extremely proud of our team's ability to deliver record operating and financial results despite multiple external challenges, including transportation disruptions, supply chain constraints and, of course, continuing to navigate the Covid-19 pandemic.” He added "As we begin our new fiscal year, Eagle is well-positioned, both financially and geographically, to capitalise on the underlying demand fundamentals that are expected to support steady and sustainable construction activity growth over the near and long term. We expect that infrastructure investment should increase in the latter part of our fiscal year, as federal funding from the recently enacted Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act begins in earnest. And, despite recent interest rate increases, housing demand remains strong across our geographies, outpacing the supply of homes. Nonresidential construction activity is also picking up."

World: The Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) has named its first six startups to receive backing under the inaugural Innovandi Open Challenge. The startups have partnered with GCCA members to help increase cement’s sustainability towards achieving net zero CO₂ concrete production by 2050. This will lead to the formation of six consortia to further test, develop and deploy their new technologies.

Carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) startups CarbonOrO, MOF Technologies and Saipem, all based in Europe, are among the participants. GCCA members are currently involved in dozens of pilot projects and aim to have 10 industrial-scale carbon capture plants installed by 2030. Other startups Carbon Upcycling Technologies and Fortera, from Canada and the US respectively, use captured CO₂ to produce low-carbon cement and cementitious materials, while UK-based Coomtech has developed a low-cost drying technology using turbulent air.

GCCA CEO Thomas Guillot said “It’s a proud moment to see the industry coming together to support such innovative start-ups on their journey. Our member companies were greatly impressed by their ambition to be a key part of the climate solution. The programme is another big step forward towards unlocking innovation to help us achieve our net zero goal.” He continued “As the need for resilient and sustainable communities to support a growing global population becomes more pressing , cement and concrete will be essential to providing the infrastructure and buildings that society needs. Achieving net zero concrete relies on a number of different groups playing their part, and as an industry we’re looking outwards as well as inwards, to see how start-ups like these can support our goals.”

Canada: Lafarge Canada has converted its Richmond, British Colombia, cement plant to 100% OneCem Portland limestone cement (PLC) production. OneCem cement’s CO₂ emissions per tonne are 13% below the Canadian PLC average. The Richmond plant has supplied OneCem cement to the Western Canada and US Pacific Northwest customers since 2011. Since that time, it has eliminated 1.18Mt of CO₂ emissions, according to the producer.

President and CEO Brad Kohl said "Collaborating with local government and stakeholders was key to ensuring OneCem PLC’s uptake in the market, and conversion away from traditional high-intensity cement products. As industry leaders, we want to facilitate access to low carbon cements across Canada, and starting with Richmond is a big step towards making that happen."

Switzerland: Holcim has launched the DYNAMax range of high-performance concretes. The producer says that the range offers higher compressive strength, rigidity and durability than its other concrete products. In 2022, it plans to begin marketing DYNAMax in ten markets in its Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America regions.

Chief executive officer Jan Jenisch said “I’m excited by the launch of our DYNAMax high-performance concrete, advancing our global range of innovative and sustainable building solutions. With today’s population and urbanisation trends, DYNAMax is an ideal material to build smarter cities. It offers high performance to build more with less with no compromise on aesthetics and functionality.”

Australia: James Hardie recorded consolidated sales of US$1.75bn in the first half of its 2022 financial year, up by 28% year-on-year from US$1.36bn in the first half of the 2021 financial year. Its earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) more than doubled to US$398m from US$197m. Fibre cement board sales increased by 17% in North America to 463Mm2 from 395Mm2 and more than doubled to 96.5Mm2 from 47.3Mm2 in Asia Pacific.

During the 2022, 2023 and 2024 financial years, the group plans to complete expansions of its Prattville, Alabama, cement board plant in the US and a European cement board plant, and to establish a new cement board plant in Victoria, Australia. It also aims to purchase land in the US for a future new cement board plant there.

CEO Jack Truong said "Our mission is to be a high-performance global company that delivers organic growth above market with strong returns, consistently. Ten consecutive quarters of growth above market with strong returns has led to an acceleration in operating cash flow, which is allowing us to expand our global manufacturing capacity, accelerate our growth initiatives, return to ordinary dividends, reduce our debt position, and increase the cash contributions to the Asbestos Injuries Compensation Fund (AICF)."

UK: Cemex has joined its subsidiary Cemex Ventures and Taronga Ventures in investing in construction logistics digital platform developer Voyage Control. The group said that the supplier’s product can reduce delays, waste and cost overruns through optimised delivery scheduling, and provide an overview of all transactions in real time. It currently helps to coordinate 6 million deliveries annually at 200 sites across North America, Europe and Asia.

Cemex Ventures director Gonzalo Galindo said “Cemex Ventures seeks to integrate Voyage Control with Cemex's digital assets, which will allow us to provide a better and more complete service to our clients. Now, we can collect more information, continue to promote operational efficiency and sustainable reporting and improve our health and safety criteria to reduce risks.”