By Olaf Ridder
FRANKFURT (Dow Jones)–Heidelberg Materials sees good chances of being able to sell green cement at significantly higher prices than traditional products from next year. Nicola Kimm, responsible for sustainability at the Heidelberg building materials group, is currently seeing great demand for the product, which has been marketed since November last year and is scheduled to be delivered sometime from 2025. “We are seeing interest worldwide” from companies that want to build without CO2 emissions, she said at the annual press conference.
Heidelberg Materials wants to bring the product onto the market after the commissioning of the large-scale industrial CO2 capture plant at the Brevik cement plant in Norway, which is currently still being built. This should be able to absorb 400,000 tons of climate-damaging greenhouse gases; This defines the maximum volume of CO2-neutral cement that the group can market, at least initially: According to Heidelberg Materials, an average of 534 kilos of carbon dioxide was produced per ton of cement produced in December. According to Kimm, green cement will ultimately represent “significantly less” than 1 percent of global supply.
CEO Dominik von Achten did not yet want to comment on the price at which the product will be sold. “We’re not talking about a price premium,” he said. “This is a completely new product. It simply doesn’t exist.” But he made it clear that Heidelberg wants to use its unique position as a front runner. “There is no one else in the world who can deliver this product. And then the market also decides what it is willing to pay for it.”
The order book is currently being filled. CEO Kimm said that Heidelberg Materials does not sell the green cement with the name evoZero through wholesalers, but directly to property developers. “We are very optimistic that we will get a fair price for this product, which, however, differs significantly from what traditional cement previously costs,” said von Acht.
How profitable the new products will be, including cements with an increased recycled content or reduced CO2 emissions, also depends largely on the development of CO2 prices and government subsidies for the construction of separation plants. In Brevik, Heidelberg Materials receives 85 percent of its investments. CEO of Acht expects that the funding will fall, perhaps to half the amount. But it doesn’t work without it, says CFO Rene Aldach: With 50 percent funding and a CO2 tonne price of 50 euros as is currently the case, profitability will be “sporty”.
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February 22, 2024 07:54 ET (12:54 GMT)
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