Antoing plant: where it all begins

Concrete is the second most widely used commodity in the world, right after water. The demand for this essential building material is significant and will continue to play a crucial role for modern societies.

Clinker is the primary ingredient of cement. When combined with aggregates and water, cement transforms into concrete.

The Antoing site is a clinker plant. Limestone, the raw material to produce clinker, is extracted from the adjacent quarry, also owned by the Heidelberg Materials Group. Limestone is processed together with some other raw materials such as clay and sand. It is burnt in the kiln at 1.450°C and is chemically transformed into a cementitious product called clinker.

The clinker produced in Antoing will be shipped out to the grinding stations of the group in Flanders (Ghent) and in the Netherlands (Rotterdam and IJmuiden) where it will be ground with other materials into cement.