Bringing NextGen Growth to Life in Latin America

Why is Latin America such an attractive region for Holcim?
 

Holcim is active in nine highly attractive markets across the region – Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua and Peru – where population growth and urbanization are increasing demand for infrastructure, industry and buildings.

Take housing alone, there’s an estimated deficit of 26 million units, and governments are supporting large-scale building projects. Many infrastructure megaprojects are also underway to improve connectivity, strengthen economic integration and boost regional competitiveness.

How is Holcim meeting this demand? As the construction market grows and professionalizes, our customers are looking for more sustainable, high-performance building materials and solutions. And this is where we really shine.

Holcim’s strong, well-recognized brands
 

From ECOPact to Fuerte and Apasco, Holcim has strong brands and brand recognition in Latin America, and a consistent track record of profitable growth across all market conditions and economic cycles, with our teams laser focused on delivering superior, consistent customer value.

We’re also accelerating growth and driving demand through strategic organic investments and M&A, successfully completing four value-accretive acquisitions in Building Solutions in 2025. In March 2026, we completed the acquisition of a majority stake in Cementos Pacasmayo in Peru, expanding our portfolio of building materials and solutions. In the same month, we agreed to acquire significant building materials and solutions operations in Colombia.

Disensa is our best-in-class route to market
 

And let’s not forget Disensa, Latin America’s leading construction materials and solutions retail network, which is central to our regional growth story. We’ve increased our number of stores to more than 2 000, enhancing Holcim's route to market for self builders, who account for 45% of the region’s construction spend.

We’re active on the capital expenditure (CapEx) side as well – investing in plant modernization, focusing on process optimization and expanding our production capacity.

In Mexico, Holcim has inaugurated the country’s first 100% electric-powered ready-mix concrete plant, as well as 27 new silos for sustainable cement logistics. We recently opened three new ready-mix concrete plants in Ecuador to supply the large cities of Quito and Guayaquil, plus a second mill at our cement plant in Guatemala, to expand regional grinding capacity.

How is sustainability driving profitable growth?
 

Building the sustainable cities of the future requires a fundamental shift in how the world builds, and in Latin America we’re already seeing this change, as sustainability drives profitable growth.

Demand is rising for ECOPact low-carbon concrete and ECOPlanet low-carbon cement, which accounted for 20% of ready-mix concrete net sales and 60% of cement net sales here in 2025.

Delivering at least 30% less CO₂ without offsets, these brands allow developers to meet increasingly stringent regulations - as cities specify more sustainable solutions and set ambitious net zero targets - while unlocking finance and top tier sustainability certifications.

Holcim adds value by tailoring solutions to specific project needs, from end to end. Naturally, we are close to our customers and listen to their feedback, but we also invest heavily in R&D to develop innovations - at CiTeC in Mexico and our Ecuador Innovation Center, for example.

Scaling circular construction across Latin America
 

Building cities from cities, we’re also scaling circular construction across Latin America with our ECOCycle circular technology. Following a successful launch in Mexico, we scaled the model to El Salvador as the first company to introduce certified, circular concrete to this nation’s market.

We built our newest ready-mix facility entirely out of ECOPact concrete with “ECOCycle inside” – 12% recycled construction demolition materials sourced locally. The ultimate proof of concept!

Innovation accelerating decarbonization
 

Of course, when you look at the Building Icons that Holcim is building across Latin America, and the branded solutions we offer in our portfolio, it’s impressive. What is equally impressive but less visible is all the work we’re doing on the innovation side to make this possible.

Here we’re focused on improved formulations and energy mix to support Holcim’s industry leading decarbonization roadmap – with a higher share of alternative fuels and optimization of our clinker-to-cement ratio to drive better operational and cost efficiency.

One thing I’d like to highlight is our pioneering work on calcined clay in Latin America. Using proprietary technology, we can use calcined clay to replace clinker in cement and reduce emissions by up to 50% in standard production.

In Guayaquil, Ecuador Holcim’s largest calcined clay production line was commissioned in H1 2025 and is set to produce significant volumes of calcined clay-based cement every year. This aligns with our strategy of retrofitting existing clinker kilns in Mexico, Ecuador and elsewhere.

Building a nature-positive future

We’re also working to build a nature-positive future in Latin America, and reduce our freshwater withdrawals. For example, in Ecuador we’re working with Tesalia CBC and Nestlé to reuse residual site water for concrete production. In Mexico, we’ve set an ambitious 2030 target to reduce our freshwater withdrawals by 39% in the Moctezuma basin, as an industry first-mover using the Science Based Targets Network (SBTN) Targets Network methodology.

Nature is the new climate, and our teams are helping to protect and support Latin America’s precious natural ecosystems. Holcim Ecuador, for example, is helping to preserve Cerro Blanco – one of the nation’s last remaining tropical dry forests. In Costa Rica, we’ve restored over 17 hectares around our quarries in Cartago province, by planting native plant species. And in Mexico, we supplied low-carbon ECOPlanet cement to build bio-active artificial reefs in Isla Contoy National Park, working alongside Holcim volunteers and conservation groups.

How are you expanding in high-value Building Solutions?
 

I’ve already touched on our M&A activity, as we expand in everything from ready-mix and precast and prestressed concrete solutions to calcium silicate masonry systems and specialty mortars and wall finishes.

In 2025, we expanded our portfolio with four value-accretive acquisitions – two ready-mix concrete companies in Costa Rica, Mexico and Argentina and Compañía Minera Luren in Peru for building systems, while I mentioned Cementos Pacasmayo above.

Holcim wants to offer our customers the broadest and best portfolio of high-value building solutions – from foundation and flooring to walling and roofing – powered by premium brands.

Through system and specification selling, we’re increasingly providing integrated systems, ensuring smarter decision making, better coordination and more efficient project delivery. With everything backed by our advanced digital and AI-powered services, from blueprint to build.

Building Icons in Latin America
 

If we look at just a few of Holcim’s Building Icons here in Latin America, you can see our building solutions in action across infrastructure, industry and buildings.

Los Chorros Highway is El Salvador’s largest ever infrastructure project. Here we’re supplying 254 000 m³ of ECOPact – including some mixes with ECOCycle inside – pumping and spreading services, as well as three cutting-edge slip-form paving machines to lay the highway.

Secondly, the Aña Cuá Dam is a major hydroelectric infrastructure project in Argentina that’s being built with ECOPact low-carbon concrete to reduce embodied emissions. An extension of the Yacyretá Hydroelectric Dam, this will generate 2 000 GWh of renewable energy every year.

Finally, Mundo Ambiensa in Guayaquil, Ecuador, is Latin America’s largest social housing project. Built with ECOPact, 180 000 new homes are designed to maximize use of natural light and reduce energy consumption, while sports, health and educational facilities are nearby.

Can you tell us about Holcim’s performance culture in Latin America?
 

Everything comes down to the 11 000 people in Latin America who I’m proud to call my colleagues. They live and breathe the Holcim Spirit of Purpose, People and Performance every day, and here are just a few examples of their work.
 

Purpose

Sustainability and innovation are at the core of NextGen Growth in Latin America, and in 2025 CiTeC in Toluca, Mexico celebrated its 30th anniversary as one of our region’s most advanced materials research centers, with an outstanding track record of new product development.

In line with a student vision for our high-value building solutions, we renovated the center: featuring Tector mortars on the building facade and creating a “weeping wall” that showcases the properties of ECOPerm permeable concrete, as well as a 3D-printed staircase.
 

People

In Latin America, Holcim works to create the best place to work. We hold the Top Employers Institute's Regional Blue Seal Certification for Latin America, alongside Top Employer honors in seven markets: Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, and Nicaragua.

We’re working to create opportunities and break down traditional gender barriers. From Argentina and Ecuador, where we’re equipping women with professional driving skills, to Colombia, where we're masonry training helps women gain work and benefit their communities.

Our partnership with Build Change in Guatemala provides training and support to retrofit homes to withstand earthquakes and natural disasters. In Nicaragua, we’re working with Habitat for Humanity and FICEM to replace dirt floors with clean concrete in over 1 200 households.
 

Performance

To bridge the construction skills gap in Latin America and share knowledge across the entire value chain, we launched the Holcim Sustainable Construction Academy in Spanish, a global free hybrid training platform designed specifically for architects, students, and engineers.

With over 6 400 global enrollments already, the Academy directly addresses a critical market demand for specialized, certified sustainability training. And it highlights a profound truth for us as the leading partner for sustainable construction.

As we work to build sustainable cities in Latin America, we can’t do so alone. We need to partner with all our stakeholders – city leaders, architects and urban planners, engineers, our customers, communities and more – to build progress for people and the planet.