For almost a hundred years, the Sint-Pietersberg in Maastricht was excavated for the extraction of marl and cement was made directly next to it at the ENCI factory. But it will be over at the end of this month, when the factory will close.
The marl extraction on the Sint-Pietersberg already stopped in 2018. Since then, the raw materials for cement have been supplied by ship, but the location there is not suitable for ships with a large capacity. The plant also has high maintenance costs and was no longer profitable, says parent company HeidelbergCement Group.
“It is economically very understandable,” says director Günther Gach. “But locally, for us as a team, it remains a shame.”
Largest cement factory
ENCI stands for Eerste Nederlandsche Cement Industrie. The company was founded in 1926 and the factory was operational in 1928. It was then the largest cement factory in Europe.
“This will never come back,” says Gach. “What disappears here is the basis of the cement industry in the Netherlands.”:
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