Dundee, Mich.-based Holnam Inc. announced in late December 2001 its official name change to Holcim (US) Inc. The new identity aligns the company with its corporate parent, originally Holderbank Financiere Glaris Ltd., which changed its name to Holcim Ltd. earlier in 2001. The name combines “Hol,” a derivation from the original Holderbank name and “cim” from ciment, the French word for cement and the company's core product. Holcim (US) Inc. operates 15 manufacturing plants and more than 709 distribution facilities in the United States.

Holcim also announced the opening of its grinding facility in Birmingham, Ala. The operation is part of a 1999 agreement between Holcim and U.S. Steel Group of USX. The plant is Holcim's first such grinding facility in the Southeast, and it will produce GranCem, a special cement manufactured from ground granulated blast furnace slag, a byproduct of the steel-making process. The facility will employ 25 people and will produce 450,000 metric tpy at full capacity.

Construction on the $42 million plant began in November 2000. The plant features two facilities: the grinding operation in Birmingham and the granulator located at the U.S. Steel plant in Fairfield, Ala. The granulator can produce as much as 1,200 metric tpd. The grinding facility features the largest ball mill in the United States, weighing more than 770 metric tons, and is powered by two 5,000-hp motors that can produce more than 77 metric tph of GranCem.