Who's Who in U.S. Cement Manufacturing Dominated by European Ownership

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Industry estimates peg the percentage ownership of U.S. cement manufacturing by non-U.S. owned companies at more than 85%. In recent years, many foreign entities, especially those based in Europe have seen great opportunity in the U.S. cement market and have purchased U.S. cement manufacturing capacity as a strategic growth asset. Vision, technology, and capital have allowed a few large producers to take the lion's share of the U.S. market. Today, six of the top ten U.S. cement manufacturing companies are foreign owned. The U.S. is one of the world's largest consumers of cement (third behind China and India) and investment by U.S. federal, state, and local governments to upgrade and expand the nation's highway and inner city infrastructure is an enticement to many companies seeking to increase market share. The U.S. imported 25% of its cement from outside sources five years ago. However, our need for imports is on the decrease, as of late, as consumption has decreased and internal capacity has increased, resulting in about 20% reliance on imports today.

In addition to the attractiveness of the U.S. market potential, cash strong, European owned, building material giants, like Lafarge and Holcim were able to step in and take over smaller U.S. producers and install more efficient and much needed newer technology. The move has paid off for foreign investors in the U.S. market, which witnessed a record period of growth prior to 2001. For details on this trend see archived IIR Industry alert: Changes in the U.S. Cement Consumption Slows Manufacturing Expansion Trend

The top ten U.S. cement manufacturing companies are responsible for greater than 75% of the U.S. cement manufacturing capacity at 93 plants. Click on the image at right to view the Top Ten U.S. Cement Manufacturers List.

At the top of the list, the two largest cement manufacturers in the U.S., Holcim (US) Incorporated, a subsidiary of Holcim Limited (SWX: CHF) (Jona, Switzerland), and Lafarge North America Incorporated (NYSE:LAF)(Herndon, Virginia) a subsidiary of Lafarge S.A. (NYSE:LR) (Paris, France) are owned by Swiss and French firms, respectively. Mexican cement producer, Cemex USA (Houston, Texas), a subsidiary of Cemex (NYSE:CX) (Monterrey, Mexico), acquired Southdown Corporation not too long ago creating the nation's third largest cement manufacturer.

Although not a newcomer to the U.S. cement industry, in past year, Buzzi Unicem USA Incorporated has stepped up its U.S. presence with the purchase of Lone Star Industries’ six cement plants from Dyckerhoff Zement (Wiesbaden, Germany). This coupled with the company's five existing cement plants (Alamo Cement, River Cement, Hercules, Signal Mountain, and Heartland) in the U.S. make them the fourth largest cement manufacturer. Buzzi is also changing its U.S. image by consolidating its operational management and bringing all its subsidiary companies under one North American umbrella.

The largest American owned cement manufacturer in the U.S. is Ash Grove Cement Company (Overland Park, Kansas), which has been in growth mode as of late, acquiring existing operating capacity and expanding its own plants. For details on Ash Grove Cement’s recent growth see archived IIR Industry Alert: Ash Grove Cement at Tail End of Expansion Mode in Kansas

Other international companies, which have bought into the U.S. cement market in recent years, include Spanish firm Cementos Portland and Mexican firm, Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua SA de CV (Monterrey, Mexico).