Heidelberg Materials reported third-quarter revenue of 6.41 billion euros, up 10.4% year on year, and an operating result of 1.28 billion euros, an increase of approximately 8.7%. The company released the results on 4 November and identified Europe as a particularly strong contributor to the improvement, alongside growth in North America, price management and cost savings.
The company’s transformation programme targets an additional 300 million euros in savings by the end of 2028. Its European portfolio adjustment is focused partly on sites facing weaker market conditions and on products containing less clinker.
European cement faces investment and import competition
European producers face substantial investment requirements to decarbonise while competing with imported clinker and cement in markets covered by the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). The results do not establish that CBAM caused Heidelberg Materials’ earnings growth or that import market shares have changed.
Products with less clinker can have lower production-related emissions, but the actual result depends on each cement product’s composition and the energy and process emissions associated with its manufacture. Cost restructuring, lower-clinker products and carbon-capture investment are advancing in the same industrial market in which CBAM is intended to reduce carbon leakage.
Padeswood construction advances in Wales
Heidelberg Materials has begun construction of the main foundation for its Padeswood carbon-capture project in Wales. The first large plant components are expected to arrive from April 2027. The project is designed to capture approximately 800,000 tonnes of CO₂ annually, equivalent to around 95% of the existing cement plant’s emissions.
The figure is planned capture capacity; it does not mean emissions are already being captured at full operation. Padeswood illustrates the investment required for European cement producers to reduce emissions beyond conventional energy-efficiency improvements.
For cement importers and exporters in the Western Balkans, developments in European production technology could influence future comparisons of embedded emissions, delivered prices and customer demand.