Building Materials
Building materials
We pioneer the creation of new cement products, lead our industry in operational efficiency, and consistently provide our customers with effective building solutions. Wherever and whenever there is a need for construction or evolution of infrastructure, CEMEX is there.
Photo. A Meaningful Challenge
For more than 100 years, CEMEX has supplied the world with building materials products. We operate across five continents and sell our products in more than 100 countries. We’re constantly innovating—for example, finding ways to set new records on alternative fuels usage—and have embraced our responsibility to address some of society’s largest and most complex challenges, including climate change, accessible housing, and community infrastructure.
When you join CEMEX, you’ll join a company involved in some of the most exciting and technically challenging projects that our industry has to offer. You’ll be able to build a career, increase your knowledge, and continually add to your skills. But most importantly, you’ll experience the satisfaction of knowing that you’re making a positive difference in the world
is the main basic ingredient of ready-mix concrete. Whether in bags or in bulk, CEMEX provides its customers with high-quality branded cement products for their construction needs
Cement is a fine powder, obtained from the calcination at 1,450°C of a mix of limestone, clay, and iron ore. The product of the calcination process is clinker—the main ingredient of cement—that is finely ground with gypsum and other chemical additives to produce cement.
Find out more about our main types of cement
It provides beneficial as well as desirable properties, such as compressive strength (construction material with highest strength per unit cost), durability, and aesthetics to a variety of construction applications.
Some properties of cement-based products are :
The hydration reaction between cement and water is unique: the material will set and then harden. Interestingly, the hydraulic nature of the reaction allows hydrated cement to harden even under water.
Prior to setting and hardening, hydrated cement exhibits plastic behavior. Therefore, it can be cast into molds of different shapes and forms, and can generate aesthetically interesting architectures difficult to achieve with other construction materials.
Durable When properly used (e.g., good concrete mix design practices), cement can yield structures which have a long service life that withstand extreme changes in weather conditions and chemical attack.
Cement–based material can provide excellent noise insulation with the appropriate design.
Our customers' most commonly used types and varieties of cement are the following:
Gray Ordinary Portland Cement
Our Gray Ordinary Portland Cement is a high-quality, cost-effective building material—mainly composed of clinker—that meets all applicable chemical and physical requirements and is widely used in all construction segments: residential, commercial, industrial, and public infrastructure.
White Portland Cement
CEMEX is one of the world’s largest producers of White Portland Cement. We manufacture this type of cement with limestone, low iron content kaolin clay, and gypsum. Customers use our White Portland Cement in architectural works requiring great brightness and artistic finishes, to create mosaics and artificial granite, and for sculptural casts and other applications where white prevails.
Masonry or Mortar
Masonry or mortar is a Portland cement that we mix with finely ground inert matter (limestone). Our customers use this type of cement for multiple purposes, including concrete blocks, templates, road surfaces, finishes, and brick work.
Oil-well Cement
Our oil-well cement is a specially designed variety of hydraulic cement produced with gray Portland clinker. It usually forges slowly and is manageable at high temperatures and pressures. Produced in classes from A to H and J, our oil-well cement is applicable for different depth, chemical aggression, or pressure levels.
Blended Cement
Blended hydraulic cements are produced by intergrinding or blending Portland cement and supplementary cementitious materials or SCM such as ground granulated blast furnace slag, fly ash, silica fume, calcined clay, hydrated lime, and other pozzolans. The use of blended cements in ready-mix concrete reduces mixing water and bleeding, improves workability and finishing, inhibits sulfate attack and the alkali-aggregate reaction, and reduces the heat of hydration.
CEMEX offers an array of blended cements which have a lower CO2 footprint resulting from their lower clinker content due to the addition of supplementary cementitious materials. The use of blended cements reinforces our strong dedication to sustainable practices and furthers our objective of offering an increasing range of more sustainable products.
are composed of geological materials such as stone, sand, and gravel and are used in virtually all forms of construction. They can be used in their natural state or can be crushed into smaller pieces.
The aggregates used for building are called “construction aggregates”. Aggregates are also used in agriculture, manufacturing, and other industries.
An indispensable ingredient
Aggregates are an indispensable ingredient in ready-mix concrete, asphalt, and mortar. Accounting for approximately 60% to 75% of ready-mix concrete’s volume, aggregates strongly influence concrete’s freshly mixed and hardened properties.
Aggregates not only increase concrete’s strength, but also can make the mix more compact, enabling applications such as weatherproofing and heat retention.
They can further contribute to concrete’s aesthetic qualities. For example, sand gives surface treatments their brightness.
A variety of applications
Our customers use our aggregates for a wide array of applications :
As a key component in the construction and maintenance of highways, walkways, parking lots, airport runways, and railways
For drainage, water filtration, purification, and erosion control
As fill material
For sand traps on golf courses, beaches, playing field surfaces, horse racing tracks, and related applications
To build bridges, homes, and schools
Aggregates are obtained from natural sand or sand-and-gravel pits, hard-rock quarries, dredging submerged deposits, or mining underground sediments. For more information about how aggregates are extracted, view our animated process.
Crushed Stone and Manufactured Sand
These products are obtained by mining rock and breaking it down to a preferred size. In the case of manufactured sand, the product is obtained by crushing rock to the selected shape or texture, ensuring product and project specifications are met. Sources of crushed stone can be igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic.
Main parts of aggregate
Gravel deposits are produced through a natural process of weathering and erosion. It can be used for roads, for concrete manufacturing, or for decorative purposes.
Sand occurs naturally and is composed of fine rock material and mineral particles. Its composition is variable depending on the source. It can be used for roads, for concrete manufacturing, or sanitation
Recycled concrete is created by breaking, removing, and crushing existing concrete to a preferred size. It is commonly used as a base layer for other construction materials because it compacts to form a firm surface
Aggregates are obtained from natural sand or sand-and-gravel pits, hard-rock quarries, dredging submerged deposits, or mining underground sediments. For more information about how aggregates are extracted, view our animated process.
With the help of the most advanced R&D facilities worldwide, LafargeHolcim has developed the most innovative range of ready-mix, prefabricated concrete solutions and services. They are designed to support buildings and infrastructure construction players in meeting their challenges: CO2 footprint reduction and energy efficiency of buildings, costs and speed of construction and worksite productivity, as well as architectural and aesthetic visual impact.
As the new leader of the building materials industry, LafargeHolcim has leveraged its high-level research capabilities and experienced industrial know-how to develop the best range of multi-purpose concrete products and solutions on the market.
Their quality, consistency and reliability offer superior mechanical performance for our customers’ most stringent demands, whatever the application in buildings or infrastructure. Our clients can also rely on LafargeHolcim’s world-class service, on-time deliveries and mix design management to get the concrete they need for their building projects.
Sustainable Benefits of Ready-Mix Concrete
We continuously work to improve the properties of concrete that make it a key component of sustainable construction: durability, resistance to aggressive environments, light reflection, and capacity to store energy, among others.
We also constantly work to develop innovative solutions that advance the sustainability of structures made with concrete. In this way, our customers can design sustainable buildings that can take advantage of the benefits of concrete in a wide range of applications.
Engineered Concrete
Harbors and Bridges: a special design of high performance concrete combines durability and low maintenance with resistance to aggressive environments.
Industrial Applications: concrete with high acid resistance is robust and durable for such uses as cooling towers.
Building and Housing
Structures: self-compacting concrete improves strength and durability of building structures, while reducing energy use and noise due to concrete vibration.
Envelope: structural lightweight concrete or Insulating Concrete Forms (ICF) offer insulation solutions to improve energy efficiency in buildings.
Building Design: concrete’s capacity to store energy—its thermal mass—minimizes temperature fluctuations in a building over the course of the day, reducing the need for additional heating and cooling.
Water and Wastewater Management
Pervious Pavement: pervious concrete allows rainwater to filter through and reduce flooding, while helping to decrease heat concentration.
Water Channels: concrete water channels are used in farming to reduce the amount of water lost as it flows through fields. Locally produced concrete also provides an affordable solution.
Potable Water and Sewage Systems: high performance concrete is used for pipes, which are affordable, long-lasting, have high structural strength, and can withstand water abrasion.
Wastewater Treatment Plants: special cements and high technology concrete design increase chemical resistance and reducing maintenance.
Roads and Pavements
Paving: Concrete roads are durable and need little maintenance. They require less energy for street lighting, keep urban areas cooler, and decrease the urban heat island effect.