FRANKFURT (Reuters) – HeidelbergCement, the world’s No. 2 cement maker, said on Tuesday it aimed to cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by almost 50% by 2030 compared with 1990, part of an industry-wide push to decarbonise.
The company will use recycled materials and carbon capture to reduce CO2 emissions to 400 kilograms per tonne, down from a previous target of 500 kilograms, highlighting its efforts to cut emission in the cement production, which is among the most polluting industrial processes.
“We will make the transition a successful business case,” Chief Executive Dominik von Achten said during the company’s capital markets day.
The company also provided a new set of financial targets, aiming for sales growth of around 5% per year as well as a core profit (EBITDA) margin of 20%-22% by 2025. The return on invested capital is seen at more than 10%, having previously forecast to be above 8%.
Net investments, which cover sustainable products and CO2 capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS), will average 1.1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) a year by 2025, said the company, which competes with Switzerland’s Holcim, the global leader.
“We are rigorously driving forward the transformation of HeidelbergCement to become the world’s most sustainable company in our sector,” von Achten said. “We have the ambition, speed, knowledge, technologies, and partners to lead the necessary change process in our sector.”
($1 = 0.9323 euros)
(Reporting by Ilona Wissenbach and Christoph Steitz; Writing by Paul Carrel; Editing by Miranda Murray and Lisa Shumaker)
