UPDATED AT 12:56 PM ET
Amrize, the nation’s largest cement producer, is making a $700 million investment in its American facilities, and a new “Made in America” label may do more than spark patriotic appeal.
Launched on November 13 at flagship plants in Missouri and Texas, the company says the certification ensures domestic manufacturing and expands US capacity. An auxiliary advantage of materials of domestic origin is the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in one of the most emission-intensive construction materials.
Amrize’s new “Made in America” label certifies that its cement products are made entirely in the USA
Image courtesy of Amrize.
“Our new ‘Made in America’ label gives our customers confidence that their product meets American standards of quality, performance and reliability, with local-to-local service,” Jaime Hill, president of Amrize Building Materials, said in a statement.
“We are proud of the role our solutions play in building America and are committed to advancing America’s construction industry, supporting American jobs and serving as the partner of choice for America’s professional builders,” he added.
Amrize plans to extend the label to five of its plants in the United States, starting with the facility in Ste. Genevieve, Mo.; Midlothian, Texas; Devil’s Slide, Utah; Holly Hill, SC; and Portland, Colo.
The launch coincides with upgrades that add approximately 760,000 tons of annual production, including a 660,000-ton expansion at Ste. Genevieve, the largest cement plant in North America, and $50 million in modernization work in Midlothian.
Patrick Cleary, senior vice president of North American commercial cement at Amrize, said the Made in America label is meant to instill confidence and support economic growth. “We see a clear opportunity to strengthen partnerships that value verified domestic content,” he said.
Amrize’s Ste. The Genevieve, Missouri plant, the largest cement plant in North America, is undergoing a 660,000-ton expansion as part of the company’s $700 million investment program.
Image courtesy of Amrize.
The U.S. cement and concrete industry contributes more than $130 billion annually to the economy and supports about 600,000 jobs, according to the American Cement Association. Domestic shipments reached approximately 105 million metric tons by 2024, with imports supplying about 23% of total demand, valued at nearly $16 billion.
While the new label echoes the “Buy America” sentiment, the cement itself remains outside the Federal Highway Administration’s domestic content mandates.
FHWA rules that went into effect Oct. 1 begin phasing in U.S. manufacturing and component thresholds for products manufactured under federally funded projects, but cement is not yet covered.
“For the five flagship plants where we are launching the label, we have verified the origin of all raw materials through a full supply review,” the company said in an email.
“We see a clear opportunity to strengthen our partnerships that value verified domestic content with customers looking to specify and promote Made in America solutions,” said Patrick Cleary, Amrize’s senior vice president of Commercial Cement for the US, in an email to ENR.
“Success will be measured not only by market performance, but also by the confidence of our customers,” he added.
An additional advantage of using materials of domestic origin is the reduction of the ecological impact. Buying local will, by definition, reduce the amount of energy needed to obtain raw materials compared to non-domestic sources. The result is a reduction in net greenhouse gas emissions.
Several states, including California and Colorado, have adopted Buy Clean standards that account for carbon emissions when purchasing materials. This convergence between sourcing policy and emissions disclosure could give Amrize’s label more traction.
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Supply of materials and carbon footprint
Amrize’s “local to local” logistics model reduces delivery distances, a growing factor in accounting for embodied carbon. This connection between local production and emissions won the cautious approval of Kari Yuers, chair of the Chemical Adhesives Committee of the American Concrete Institute and president of Kryton International.
U.S. cement shipments rose steadily from 2020 to 2024, reaching about 105 million metric tons, while the import share rose to 23.5 percent, according to data from the U.S. Geological Survey.
Graph by ENR
“If you reduce transport distances, you naturally reduce the carbon incorporated,” Yuers told ENR. “But it’s only one piece of the puzzle. We need parallel moves – electrification of transport, alternative fuel kilns, 1 liter cements, carbon capture pilots – to really move the needle.”
He added that verification matters as much as intent. “Labels are valuable if they are verifiable,” he said. “Without transparent data on the intensity of incorporated carbon, a household content label risks becoming just another marketing claim.”
The production of cement clinker by heating limestone and clay in kilns is the most energy-intensive aspect of creating Portland cement. Clinker is the key product where the chemical reaction takes place and is responsible for most of the environmental emissions associated with the production of cement, which is ultimately used in concrete.
Contractors and state transportation agencies can verify domestic content claims and environmental disclosures using the Federal Trade Commission’s labeling rules and ASTM-compliant environmental product declarations.
This documentation is increasingly required in the material procurement scoring frameworks and Buy Clean reports of federal authorities, ACI and other standard-setting bodies.
Decarbonisation and industry prospects
The company’s investment push includes process efficiency improvements, as well as the start-up this year of a new fly ash beneficiation plant in Virginia, with the goal of recovering fly ash as supplemental cementitious material, a key step in offsetting clinker emissions.
Many U.S. concrete producers currently import fly ash from abroad due to the lack of coal-fired power plants in the U.S., necessitating purchase from Europe or coal-friendly nations. This supply chain was disrupted not only during the pandemic, but also during the most recent shortage of the coal byproduct due to high demand for mission-critical facilities.
“Benefited fly ash and calcined clay can make a real carbon impact, but access and permitting are limiting factors,” Yuers said. “We need regional supply solutions so contractors aren’t waiting months for alternative materials.”
Yuers added that Portland limestone cement, known in industry standards as Type 1L, can reduce CO₂ intensity by 10 to 15 percent without compromising structural performance when mix designs are properly adjusted. “They’re the quickest short-term win,” he said. “They are tested and ready if the market demands them.”
Cement manufacturing accounts for approximately 71 million metric tons of CO₂ annually, about 4.4% of US industrial greenhouse gas production, according to data from the EPA and the Clean Air Task Force.
With construction activity expected to increase through 2030, manufacturers face increasing pressure from property owners and transportation departments to document life-cycle carbon reductions through environmental product statements.
“Domestic production and low-carbon production should not be separate goals,” Yuers said. “If companies like Amrize align both, they will redefine what ‘Made in America’ means for the next generation of infrastructure.”
For Amrize, the label positions the company where national sourcing and carbon reduction goals converge.
“The label reinforces Amrize’s role as a local partner helping states, builders and contractors source materials produced in their own communities,” the company said. “It provides a clear signal to customers and public agencies that working with an Amrize-labeled cement product directly supports American manufacturing, American jobs and local economic growth.”
Whether the initiative becomes a verified competitive standard, or simply a smart brand, will depend on the data the industry has only begun to measure.
— Jeff Yoders contributed reporting to this story.
Correction: This story has been updated to reflect accurate attribution to Patrick Cleary’s quotes. Additionally, the Made in America label will be used at five named facilities, not the 13 plants owned by Amrize, as previously reported.
