Lafarge North America history

1864: First major project: the Suez Canal.

The Dallas-based company, with ten plants and the capacity to make six million tons of cement a year, traced its roots to the Southwestern States Portland Cement Company, established in 1907.

1912: Holcim was born with the opening of a first cement plant in Holderbank (Switzerland) by Adolf Gygi, joined two years later by visionary industrial Ernst Schmidheiny.

1942: Creation of the research and testing facility Technische Stelle Holderbank (Technical Center Holderbank).

In 1970 the Lafarge operation merged with Canada Cement (still the largest cement producer in the country), creating Canada Cement Lafarge Ltd. (CCL), with 11 plants coast-to-coast.

The year 1972 saw the creation of a new subsidiary, Canfarge Ltd., to oversee its concrete-related, construction materials business.

In 1973 CCL moved south into the United States market.

Citadel began operations in January 1974, in Atlanta, Georgia.

When the joint venture dissolved in 1977, CCL kept Citadel and two cement plants in the southern United States, incorporating the wholly owned subsidiary as Citadel Cement Corporation of Maryland.

The 1982 recession in the United States slowed housing and other construction activity to a 20-year low, and CCL reported a net loss of $25 million on revenues of $900 million.

In 1983 CCL underwent a major reorganization.

It also began cutting labor costs, which led to a six-month strike during 1984.

Acquisitions, Restructuring, and a Move: 1986--87

In the fall of 1987 the company moved to Reston, Virginia, outside Washington, D.C., to be closer to its Canadian offices and French parent and more central to its markets.

In 1989 it acquired seven subsidiaries of the Standard Slag Holding Company, becoming one of the largest aggregate producers in the United States.

In 1991, despite a downturn in the construction industry, Lafarge Corporation added the Missouri Portland Cement Company and Davenport Cement Company, expanding Lafarge's presence along the Mississippi River.

Lafarge Corporation reorganized again in 1993, consolidating its operations into three cement regions and three construction materials regions, and began selling off its assets in Texas and Alabama.

By mid-1994 the company's sales were up more than seven percent, and net income had risen 71 percent.

The company's 1998 acquisitions, combined with the strong construction economy, boosted net income of 29 percent over the previous year, and revenues of 33 percent to $2.45 billion, a new high for Lafarge Corporation.

2014: Holcim and Lafarge announced their merger project.