France: Lafarge will appeal its conviction for financing terrorist groups in Syria, following a ruling by the Paris Criminal Court ruling on 13 April 2026. According to the Paris Court of Appeal prosecutor’s office, the company and eight co-defendants, including former CEO Bruno Lafont, have filed appeals against the verdict. The court found that Lafarge had paid nearly €5.6m to armed groups, including ISIS, between 2013 and 2014 to maintain operations at its cement plant in Jalabiya, northern Syria.

The court fined the company €1.13m, the maximum penalty for the charge, and imposed a customs fine of €4.57m, for ‘violating international sanctions.’ Former CEO Bruno Lafont received a six-year prison sentence. He is currently being held at a Paris prison, where his request for release is set to be reviewed on 4 May 2026, according to French news channel BFMTV. Other defendants received prison sentences ranging from 18 months to seven years, including a Syrian intermediary who reportedly remains at large.

Sweden: SaltX Technology and Holcim have produced Portland-quality clinker using a fully electrified process, following industrial-scale testing at SaltX’s test and research centre in Hofors, Sweden. Holcim’s cement raw meal was calcined using only electricity and then sintered using SaltX’s new electric clinker reactor. The company says it eliminates the need for a fossil-fuel powered kiln and demonstrates a ‘fundamentally new approach’ to cement production. The resulting clinker reportedly meets industrial quality requirements.

CEO of SaltX Lina Jorheden said “This marks a major step forward in demonstrating that a fully electrified cement process is not only possible but can be implemented in an industrial setting. Electrifying both calcination and sintering is key to enabling this shift, and the results demonstrate a new approach to cement production.”

Head of Holcim MAQER Ventures Bengt Steinbrecher said “SaltX demonstrated that their electrification solution is able to produce clinker of Portland quality. This is a strong validation of their technology and an important step on the industrial scale-up roadmap for future cement production.”

The results are a step forward toward the planned pilot plant. SaltX will provide further updates about the development as the project progresses.

US: Amrize reported sales of US$2.18bn in the first quarter of 2026, up by 5% year-on-year. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 10% to US$192m. The company said that growth was driven by higher cement and aggregates volumes, with cement volumes rising by 14% to 4.10Mt and aggregates volumes up by 14% to 17.8Mt. Building Materials sales rose by 13% to US$1.50bn, while segment EBITDA increased by 42% to US$170m. It sold 4.1Mt of cement in the first quarter of 2026, representing a 14% year-on-year increase from 3.6Mt. Amrize said that cement price increases were put in place in April 2026, as well as fuel surcharges to offset cost inflation.

Amrize confirmed its 2026 outlook, targeting sales of US$12.3bn-US$12.5bn and adjusted EBITDA of US$3.25bn-US$3.34bn.

CEO Jan Jenisch said “While this is a seasonally small quarter for Amrize, we are encouraged by our progress and the acceleration of customer demand in Building Materials. With growing new project starts and multi-year supply agreements for mega-projects, we achieved double-digit volume growth in cement and aggregates. Our Building Materials business is well positioned for 2026 and we are well positioned to capitalise on accelerating customer demand and deliver profitable growth.”

Global: Heidelberg Materials will scale deployment of autonomous heavy mobile equipment across its global operations, targeting around 30 vehicles in 2026. The rollout will extend to six sites and two vehicle types in North America, Australia and Europe. It follows earlier deployment of an autonomous haulage system (AHS) at its Lake Bridgeport quarry in Texas.

In North America, Heidelberg Materials is extending its AHS programme to sites in Indiana and Texas. In Australia, the company is launching its first AHS projects at quarries in New South Wales and Western Australia. In Europe, Heidelberg Materials is trialling an autonomous wheel loader at a sand and gravel pit in Northern Germany.

The company said the systems use sensors, cameras and AI to autonomously operate the equipment in complex, dynamic environments to improve safety and operational performance. Heidelberg Materials plans to deploy more than 100 autonomous vehicles by 2028 as part of a broader initiative.