Denmark’s FLSmidth announced to explore available divestment options for their cement business. As of 1 January 2024, a new company structure is in place and the separation activities are expected to be completed during the first half of 2024. The background: In the first 9 months of 2023 the order intake by the Cement Division declined by -28.7% YoY to € 515.7 m, with -19.4% in the cement service sector and -40.0% in the cement products sector (photo: Holcim’s 4 Mta Ste Genevieve plant supplied by FLSmidth). In the last few years, FLSmidth focused on the gross margin improvement by good margin execution, but had lost significant market shares to competitors, especially Sinoma. However, the investments by the cement industry outside China have been at a relatively high level.