Germany: Karsdorfer and Sötenich plants for sale

CRH confirmed with its annual 2016 results, that it will sell a large portion of its German cement assets, as part of a wider EUR400m divestment programme.

The company has agreed to sell the Karsdorfer integrated cement plant (2.3Mta) and Sötenich grinding plant (0.45Mta), to an unnamed purchaser, subject to approval by the German Competition Authority (Bundeskartellamt). CRH is expected to retain its third plant at Wössingen.

It is possible that an existing German cement producer would be best placed to take advantage of the sale, and Schwenk Zement is considered by industry commentators to be among the front-runners. Such an acquisition would bring its domestic market share up from 10 to 19 per cent.

As a highly-fragmented market, the German cement sector has long been highlighted as an area of Europe where consolidation is likely to take place, with current ex-works prices about 20 per cent below those in France.