At its Annual General Meeting on 15 May 2025, Heidelberg Materials AG confirmed that it is supplying cement and concrete to the construction of large-scale infrastructure projects in occupied Western Sahara: the new ports of El Aaiún and Dakhla. 

The German multinational, formerly known as HeidelbergCement, owns Ciments du Maroc, which operates two cement grinding mills and one concrete plant near El Aaiún, the capital city of occupied Western Sahara. In its responses to questions posed by Western Sahara Resource Watch (WSRW) during the AGM, Heidelberg Materials disclosed that:

• 500,000 tons of cement were produced annually in Western Sahara in 2023 and 2024.
• It sources 150,000 tons of limestone and pozzolana annually in Western Sahara, purchased from unnamed third-party suppliers. While the firm declined to disclose these suppliers due to “competition reasons,” it admitted that material volumes remained consistent with previous years.
• The company supplied concrete - though not cement - for the construction of the new and deeply controversial El Aaiún port.
• It sold approximately 50,000 tons of cement in both 2023 and 2024 to customers involved in building the Dakhla Atlantique megaport.
• Staff of parent company Heidelberg Materials is sent to Western Sahara on a regular basis for maintenance work.

The company’s statements mark the clearest admission to date of its involvement in Morocco’s consolidation of its illegal occupation through massive industrial developments in the territory.

Both port projects are part of Morocco’s strategic agenda to cement its control over the territory. The Dakhla Atlantique port, in particular, has been flagged as a geopolitical project aimed at turning occupied Western Sahara into a logistics hub linking Morocco with West African markets. 

Heidelberg's local subsidiary, Ciments du Maroc, had previously stated on its website that it is providing cement to the new port in El Aaiún [or download]. The purpose of the new port - and an associated fertilizer plant - is for the Moroccan state phosphate company to export phosphate rock and fertilizer products from the territory that it illegally holds under occupation. That trade takes place in violation of international law. 

By providing building materials, Heidelberg Materials enables the infrastructure that underpins Morocco’s occupation and resource exploitation of the territory. Such activity supports a settler-based economy and helps finance Morocco's strategic ambitions in the territory.

When asked if the company had sought the consent of the Saharawi people, Heidelberg Materials flatly responded that no such consent was necessary since it “does not mine raw materials” in Western Sahara. It further stated that as a private company, it is “not obliged” to seek such consent.

“This rationale is both factually and legally questionable. To be able to operate in the occupied part of Western Sahara, Heidelberg Materials will have been issued permits by the Moroccan government, which illegally occupies the territory. Furthermore, the company makes a profit from that government's infrastructure projects in the occupied territory without the consent of the people of the territory,” says Nina Matzik of Western Sahara Resource Watch.

In response to questions about how its operations align with its Human Rights Policy Statement, that asserts the company's commitment to the UN Civil and Social Covenants - which both include the right to self-determination in their first articles - Heidelberg Materials stated that “the implementation of the right to self-determination is the responsibility of states. As a private company, we fulfill our obligation to respect peoples' right to self-determination.”

“Heidelberg’s ongoing presence in Western Sahara is not just a business decision: it is a political one, with real consequences for the Saharawi people’s right to self-determination,” said Matzik. “You cannot claim neutrality while pouring the concrete of occupation.”

WSRW has made an English translation of the German original of the questions and answers at the 2025 Heidelberg Materials AGM.  

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