Huaxin sales increase 30 per cent since Holcim investment, China

Holcim has said that its  Holcim said that its joint venture Hubei Huaxin Cement has seen annual sales growth of 30 per cent since it invested in the company.??Holcim entered the Chinese market in 1995, a report by China Daily states.

In 1999, the company made a strategic investment in Huaxin Cement, in Hubei province, and became the company's largest shareholder in 2008. Currently, Holcim holds about 42 per cent of Huaxin's shares.

Last year Huaxin Cement benefited from government investment in infrastructure and residential construction. Considerably more building materials were sold in all segments and the process of vertical integration continued. Financial performance improved in part because selling prices increased in the fourth quarter as a result of the customary seasonal bottlenecks affecting the electricity grid.

In 2011, Huaxin Cement acquired three plants in the province of Hubei with a capacity of 5Mt of cement. Huaxin Cement’s first two aggregates plants in Wuxue and Yangxin will start operations in 2012. Located close to the Yangtze river, they give the company access to the major markets in Shanghai and Nanjing.