Heidelberg Materials Plans to Close Ranville Cement Plant in France

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 16, Heidelberg Materials announced that its French operations plan to restructure their cement production network and intend to close the Ranville cement plant in the Calvados department of Normandy. The plan is still at the planning stage and will affect 87 employees. The company is advancing follow-up arrangements with employee representatives, local authorities, and relevant government departments.

Built in 1964, the Ranville cement plant replaced the Colombelles cement plant that began operation in 1933 and is one of Heidelberg Materials' important cement production bases in northern France. According to the official French register of industrial facilities, the plant is still in licensed operation and is listed as a facility regulated under France's Industrial Emissions Directive; the most recent regulatory inspection was completed on July 7, 2026.

According to historical French industrial records, the capacity of the Ranville cement plant increased from 180,000 tonnes per year in 1972 to 475,000 tonnes per year in 2000, and exceeded 500,000 tonnes per year around 2010. According to French environmental regulatory documents, the plant's rotary kiln had a historical average clinker output of approximately 1,250 tonnes per day.

This adjustment by Heidelberg Materials will focus on reducing clinker production capacity and continue to increase the share of end cement products. The company disclosed that persistently weak construction demand in France has led to a significant decline in cement sales, and its cement product portfolio is shifting toward low-clinker, high-value-added products.

Ranville had previously also been included in Heidelberg Materials' low-carbon technology layout in France. In 2023, the company launched a concrete demolition waste mineralization project at the plant, planning to process approximately 500,000 tonnes of demolished concrete per year and sequester carbon dioxide through mineralization, with the goal of reducing the plant's carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 20%.

Heidelberg Materials is currently concentrating its French capital investment in plants such as Airvault, Beaucaire, Bussac-Forêt, and Couvrot. As of this announcement, the company has invested a cumulative total of approximately 650 million euros in these four production bases for equipment modernization and low-carbon upgrades.

This adjustment continues Heidelberg Materials' restructuring of cement capacity in France. The company had previously decided to close the Beffes and Villiers-au-Bouin plants, with the related closure arrangements implemented from October 2025; in 2026, the company continues to advance the optimization of its European cement production network.