Higher cement deliveries in Romania and Russia curbed the Swiss group’s decline in European sales.
In Italy and Azerbaijan, sales declined compared to the same period in 2013, the report notes.
The cement producer notes economic recovery has slowed throughout Europe in the first nine months, which translated into worsening conditions on the construction market. Besides little growth in strong economies like Germany and France, the crisis in Ukraine contributed to a decline in demand.
While cement sales in Europe stagnated in the first nine months, at 20.2 million tons, aggregate deliveries posted a decline of 2%, from 55.2 million tons to 54 million tons.
On a group level, cement sales increased 1.6% in the first nine months, from 104.3 million tons to 105.9 million tons, while aggregate sales declined 1%, from 114.8 million tons to 113.7 million tons.
Holcim and Lafarge last week officially submitted their merger proposition to the European Commission. The merger was announced in April and entails the sale of certain assets by each of the companies. Under the deal, Lafarge will discard its Romanian operations.