Global Cement News

Another potentially gargantuan deal in the US building materials sector emerged this week in the shape of Quikrete bidding to buy Summit Materials. The latter company announced that a non-binding acquisition proposal had been received and the business press revealed who it was from. Further reporting suggested that Summit Materials has a market value of around US$7bn.

Quikrete is well known in North America for its packaged concrete products that are often sold in distinctive yellow bags. Its brands include Quikrete cement and concrete, Pavestone and Keystone paver and block products and Rinker concrete pipe and storm-water products amongst others. The company says it operates over 90 manufacturing sites in the US, Canada, Puerto Rico and South America, although it does not appear to own any cement plants. Notably, it is privately owned.

The deal is likely to revolve around the ready-mixed concrete assets that Summit Materials runs. However, readers may recall that Summit Materials and Cementos Argos completed the merger of their operations in the US at the start of 2024. That deal was set to make Colombia-based Cementos Argos the largest shareholder in Summit Materials. The companies also said that it was going to set them up with the fourth-largest cement-making portfolio in the US, with a capacity of 11.6Mt/yr, and place them among the largest aggregates and concrete producers. So it will be interesting, to say the least, to see how Cementos Argos reacts to a change in plans so soon after the merger has finished. Assuming the deal is credible, how it reacts may suggest whether the company is following the money in the short term or sticking to a longer plan.

Yet another large deal in the building materials sector in North America reinforces the diverging fortunes between the markets there and in Europe. However, this dynamic can create its own problems. More details about Holcim’s spin-off of its business in North America, for example, emerged in October 2024. Press reports suggested that the group was considering a dual-listing as its Swiss and other European shareholders were potentially facing restrictions from holding shares outside of their home markets.

Despite the current frenzy for market share and margin in the US by multinational building materials companies though, the cement market hasn’t had the best year so far in 2024. US cement shipments actually fell year-on-year in 2023 and continued to do so during the first seven months of 2024, according to United States Geological Survey (USGS) data. The Portland Cement Association (PCA)’s Chief Economist Ed Sullivan blamed this mainly on high interest rates. He then noted in an autumn forecast that a cut in rates was likely to benefit the construction market from mid-2025 onwards. Anne Noonan, the CEO of Summit Materials, also noted the negative effect of interest rates on construction projects at a recent Colorado Business Roundtable event.

None of this has discouraged the hunger of companies to cash in on the US market. Even the uncertainty of the impending US presidential election taking place on 5 November 2024 has failed to quell this desire. In brief, either administration might take different approaches to trade protectionism, infrastructure investment plans, green investment, permitting, regulations and so on. Yet the market fundamentals are strong for building materials. Koch helped MITER Brands buy window and door manufacturer PGT Innovations for US$3.1bn in January 2024 and Owens Corning acquired another door producer, Masonite, for US$3.9bn in May 2024. Quikrete smells potential and it may follow.

France: Lafarge France has appointed Alexandre Duca as its chief financial officer. He will report to Xavier Guesnu, the CEO of the subsidiary of Holcim.

Duca has worked for Lafarge since 2000 when he started working as a management assistant at the Cruas lime plant. He later joined the financial control team for Lafarge in 2008 before working in Russia in 2011 as Director of Management Control. Following the merger with Holcim in 2015, he was appointed as Regional Financial Controller for Asia in 2016 and then for Europe in 2019. He then became the CFO of Lafarge Cement and Geocycle France in 2021. Duca is a graduate from the University of Paris-Dauphine.

Spain: Molins announced a revenue of €1bn for the first nine months of 2024, down by 5% year-on-year, impacted by lower volumes and currency fluctuations. Particularly in Argentina, economic instability and currency devaluation affected performance. Net profit rose by 23% year-on-year to €153m, while earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) totalled €274m, a decrease of 1% from the corresponding period in 2023. 

Portugal: Cimpor has presented its decarbonisation plan during a visit from the Portuguese Minister of Economy, Pedro Reis, to its Alhandra cement plant. The plan involves a €360m investment across Cimpor’s Alhandra, Souselas and Loulé plants to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Current projects at the Alhandra plant include a €110m investment in alternative fuels and two €35m investments in a replacement mill and new clinker cooler. The company estimates a CO₂ emissions reduction of 190,000t/yr and a 16GWh energy saving. Similar initiatives are underway at the Souselas plant, such as the conversion of a kiln to produce calcined clays, which could reportedly cut 70,000t/yr of CO₂.

Cevat Mert, CEO of Cimpor for Portugal and Cape Verde, said “We are committed to investing in Portugal for the environment, sustainability and technology, and our projects are going at full speed. I would like to emphasise that the government´s infrastructure investments, support and incentives, particularly for the environment and sustainability, need to gain further momentum, and we trust in the minister’s support on prioritising this matter. I am confident that together we will continue to build a cement sector that Portugal can be proud of.”

US: Eagle Materials' quarterly revenues hit US$624m in the first half of the 2025 financial year, with net earnings of US$144m and earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of US$242m. The company’s cement revenues dropped by 2% year-on-year, to US$353m, resulting in a 5% fall in its operating earnings from cement, to US$116m, exacerbated by increased maintenance costs. Cement sales volume declined by 5% year-on-year to 2Mt, affected by adverse weather in Texas in July 2024 and Eastern US markets in September 2024.