| Company Name: | Lafarge |
| Company Type: | Public (, ) |
| Foundation: | 1833 |
| Location: | Paris, France |
| Key People: | Bruno Lafont (Chairman of the board and CEO) |
| Industry: | Construction |
| Products: | Cement, construction aggregates, asphalt production and paving, concrete and gypsum wallboard |
| Revenue: | €17.61 billion (2007)[1] |
| Operating Income: | €3.242 billion (2007) |
| Net Income: | €1.909 billion (2007) |
| Num Employees: | 77,720 (2007) |
| Homepage: | www.lafarge.com |
| Intl: | yes |
Lafarge (, ) is a French industrial company specialising in four major products: cement, construction aggregates, concrete and gypsum wallboard. It currently (2007) is the world's second-largest cement manufacturer by mass shipped behind Holcim.[2]
Lafarge was founded in 1833[3] by Joseph-Auguste Pavin de Lafarge in Le Teil (Ardèche), to exploit the limestone quarry in Mont Saint-Victor between Le Teil and Viviers. The limestone is white and argillaceous, and yielded an eminently hydraulic lime.
In 1864 Lafarge signed its first international contract for the delivery of 110,000 tonnes of lime to the Suez Canal construction project[3] . It developed calcium aluminate cements. It was also an early pioneer in the production of white Portland cement, still made at the company's original Le Teil plant.
In 1919, a public company was formed, named "Société anonyme des chaux et ciments de Lafarge et du Teil."
In 1980, it joined with the cement company Coppée to become SA Lafarge Coppée.
Lafarge purchased the National Gypsum Co. in early-1987.[4] Ten years later, it bought Redland plc, a leading British quarry operator.[5]
In 2001, Lafarge, then the world's second largest cement manufacturer, acquired Blue Circle Industries (BCI), which at the time was the world's sixth largest cement manufacturer, to become the world leader in cement manufacturing[3] .
In 2006, Lafarge North America shareholders accepted a $3 billion tender offer from Lafarge Group which gave the parent company full control over the North American business, removing LNA from the New York Stock Exchange. Previously the Group had owned 53% of LNA shares[6] .
In 2007, divested its roofing division, selling it to a private equity group in a deal that resulted in Lafarge retaining a 35% equity stake[3] .
In December 2007, Lafarge announced the purchase of the Orascom Cement Group, an Egyptian based cement producer with operations across Africa and the Middle East, from Orascom Construction Industries (OCI)[7] .
On May 15,2008 Lafarge acquired Larsen&Turbo Ready Mix-Concrete (RMC) business in India for $349 million.[8] .
On July 11, 2008, the Albany Times Union reported that Lafarge's Ravena, New York plant "was the greatest source of mercury emissions in New York from 2004 to 2006" [9] According to the story, plans have been made to upgrade the plant to reduce the mercury emissions. A second story, published the following day, stated that the factory had emitted 400 pounds of mercury annually from 2004 to 2006. [10]
The following is a summary of data:[11] [1]
| Sales | 13,698 | 14,610 | 13,658 | 14,436 | 15,969 | 16,909 | 17,614 |
| EBITDA | 2,862 | 3,101 | 2,820 | 3,028 | 2,920 | 3,610 | |
| Net results | 750 | 446 | 728 | 868 | 1,096 | 1,372 | 1,909 |
| Net debt | 9,332 | 8,544 | 6,734 | 7,017 | 7,221 | 9,845 | 8,685 |
| Staff | 82,892 | 77,547 | 75,733 | 77,075 | 80,146 | 82,734 | 77,720 |