HeidelbergCement can match or even exceed last year’s growth in 2022, given rising demand from Asia, and will be likely to unveil more ambitious carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction targets in May, its chief executive said.
Dominik von Achten, who has led the world’s second-largest cement maker for two years, said strong preliminary results for 2021 provided the basis for continued growth in 2022 or “perhaps even accelerate it a little”.
Von Achten said markets were intact and that the group had currently no indication that demand would slump.
“Markets in Asia should bounce back after the lockdowns in 2021,” von Achten said, adding the company was optimistic about Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Thailand and Australia.
Demand in Europe, the US and Africa was also good, he said. “We’re not seeing dark clouds on the demand side at the moment,” he added.
Continuing Growth
“Our clear goal is to continue the growth of 2021 in our focus markets. The first indications I have seen in the first days and weeks of the new year make me feel very positive,” von Achten said.
According to Refinitiv estimates, analysts expect HeidelbergCement’s sales to grow by 4% this year.
Global economic growth is expected to moderate somewhat in 2022 but still seen at 4.4%, according to the IMF’s World Economic Outlook, bolstering construction activity as demand for housing rises.
Von Achten’s comments provide the first assessment for the company’s 2022 outlook ahead of the group’s annual news conference later this month and come two days after HeidelbergCement released better-than-expected 2021 results.
Shares in the company rose as much as 1.8% on the comments. “This optimistic statement on … growth should (be) positive as the market feared some burdens for this year,” a local trader said.
Cement production is one of the most carbon-intensive industrial processes and von Achten said the group would update investors on its efforts to cut emissions and invest in climate protection on May 24.
Current goals include cutting CO2 emissions to less than 500 kilograms per tonne of cement by 2030 from 576 kilograms in 2020 and investing 500 million euros ($565 million) in climate protection over the next decade.
- Reuters, with additional editing by George Russell
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