Heidelberg Materials

Heidelberg Materials AG (formerly Heidelberger Zement AG until 1978, HeidelbergCement AG until 2023) is a publicly listed building materials company based in Heidelberg, Germany. It was admitted to the DAX index in June 2010. The group ranks among the world’s largest building materials producers, operating on five continents. Core activities include the production and sale of cement, aggregates, ready-mixed concrete, and asphalt.

Business segments

Cement products range from general-purpose cements to specialty cements for waterworks, waste containment linings, and remediation binders. The group also supplies aggregates (sand & gravel), concrete and lime products, and calcium-silicate masonry units. As of 2018, Heidelberg Materials operated in 60 countries with about 53,000 employees and 3,000 sites, including 143 cement plants (total clinker capacity ~130 Mt/year), 1,470 ready-mix concrete plants, and ~600 aggregate quarries.

History

The company originated from the Bergheimer Mill, converted to a cement factory by Johann Philipp Schifferdecker in 1873. In 1874 it registered as the partnership "Portland‑Cement‑Werk Heidelberg, Schifferdecker & Sons", beginning production in 1875. It became a joint-stock company in 1889 and merged with Mannheim Portland Cement in 1901. A material ropeway from Leimen to Nußloch opened in 1918.

During the Nazi era, the company employed forced labor; after WWII, Ehrhart Schott rebuilt the business. Transport concrete production began in 1959. The firm expanded internationally from the 1970s onward, renaming to Heidelberger Zement AG in 1978 and HeidelbergCement in 2002.

Major acquisitions included investments in Belgium (CBR) from 1993, Scancem (Sweden) in 1999, Indocement (Indonesia) from 2001, and Italcementi (Italy) stake in 2016. Ownership passed to Adolf Merckle in 2005, with Bernd Scheifele appointed CEO. The Hanson takeover (UK) in 2007 and subsequent capital measures led to a DAX listing on 21 June 2010. The company rebranded to Heidelberg Materials in 2022, effective 2023.

Shareholder structure

Major shareholders as of early 2025:

Shareholder	Stake
Ludwig Merckle via PH Vermögensverwaltung GmbH	28.88%
BlackRock	5.09%
The Capital Group Companies, Inc.	5.06%
Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc.	4.83%
Free float	~56.14%

Key figures

Financial KPIs:

Year	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Revenue (EUR million)	17,266	18,074	18,851	17,605	18,719	21,095	21,178	21,156
EBIT (EUR million)	1,459	1,518	1,343	-1,880	2,537	1,955	2,615	2,338
Total assets (EUR million)	35,414	36,643	39,651	33,271	34,568	34,091	36,349	38,255
Equity (EUR million)	16,052	16,822	18,504	14,548	16,660	17,624	18,375	19,975
Dividend per share (EUR)	1.90	2.10	0.60	2.20	2.40	2.60	3.00	3.30
Employees	59,054	57,939	55,047	53,122	51,209	50,780	50,997	51,129

Controversies

Cartel fines

HeidelbergCement was fined €252 million in 2004 by the German Federal Cartel Office for participation in a cement price‑fixing cartel (1993–2001); reduced to €160 million on appeal in 2009, final dismissal by the Federal Court of Justice in 2013.

Environmental and human rights issues

Protests have targeted the company’s involvement in new cement plants in Java, Indonesia, citing ecological harm and rights of indigenous communities, and quarry practices in the occupied West Bank, alleged to violate international law. Climate activists from Fridays for Future and Extinction Rebellion have also demonstrated against the group’s high CO₂ emissions.

Year	CO₂ emissions (million t)
1990	83.2
2017	73.8
2018	75.7
2019	72.6
2020	67.9
2021	69.0
2022	61.7
2023	63.9

See also

• List of largest cement producers
• List of DAX companies by CO₂ emissions

External links

• https://www.heidelbergmaterials.com/