Lafarge Acquires Cement Terminal

Company Strengthens Position in Memphis Market

By Louise Muth

Lafarge announced that it completed the purchase of a cement terminal in Memphis, Tennessee, from Angelle Concrete Products Group LLC, based in Louisiana, known locally as Memphis Cement. The acquired President’s Island Cement Terminal and its employees will be consolidated into Lafarge Cement’s River Business Unit operations.

With its many distribution assets and strong, growing economy, Memphis serves as an important transportation hub and regional center for the tri-state area of Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas. The addition of the President’s Island Terminal to Lafarge’s current Memphis terminal on Henry Street will help ensure reliable logistics service for meeting increased demand of both pure Portland and Portland blends, such as MaxCem, a high performance blend of Portland and slag cement.

“This acquisition will significantly improve Lafarge’s ability to expand its customer base and service our customers in this area by improving product availability and delivery times,” said Olivier Merindol, President of Lafarge’s River Business Unit Cement operations. “This is part of our long-term strategy in North America to build an efficient, flexible, and low-cost distribution network. It will allow Lafarge to strengthen our competitive position in the Memphis market.”

The acquisition of the terminal in Memphis complements Lafarge’s previously announced launch of a project to modernize its Joppa, Illinois cement plant in the United States. This 2 million ton plant will start up at the end of 2010.