On August 21, Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) completed its combination with Lhoist North America, a subsidiary of Lhoist Group and one of the country's leading producers of lime and industrial mineral products. The deal hands Martin Marietta more than 2 billion tons of high-quality limestone reserves and, according to the company, makes it the nation's leading producer of limestone products. It caps months of dealmaking that has quietly reshaped what kind of company Martin Marietta is becoming.
Lhoist North America serves steel manufacturing, infrastructure, heavy nonresidential construction and environmental solutions, markets Martin Marietta says it can now reach through a shared limestone base. Company leadership has pointed to lime's mission-critical role in steel production and water treatment, businesses that lean on Martin Marietta's expanding Specialties platform. In the second quarter, that platform delivered $152 million in revenue and $50 million in gross profit, both records, aided by the July 2025 Premier Magnesia acquisition and organic pricing gains. One example the company highlighted: its Woodville lime plant saw shipments exceed 2006 levels by 2% even as broader U.S. aggregates production stayed 25% below its prior peak, a sign of how differently lime demand behaves through a downturn.
The core aggregates business is not standing still either. Second-quarter revenue there hit $1.5 billion, up 16%, while total shipments rose 17% to 61.6 million tons on acquisitions and organic growth in the Central and West divisions. Organic shipments alone grew 2.3%, the fourth straight quarter of gains. Management raised full-year revenue guidance to a range of $7.2 billion to $7.4 billion to reflect the New Frontier Materials acquisition, while reaffirming adjusted EBITDA guidance of $2.36 billion to $2.5 billion. Data center activity in company-served markets climbed 90% year to date, warehouse construction rose 53%, and 70% of under-construction data center and manufacturing square footage sits within 55 miles of a Martin Marietta facility.
Growth has not come free. Average selling prices fell 2% on a headline basis in the second quarter, even though they rose 3.7% once adjusted for geographic mix, a gap that shows how much the picture depends on how you slice it. Reported aggregate gross profit of $418 million absorbed a $52 million noncash inventory step-up charge tied to purchase accounting, and organic cost of goods sold per ton rose 3.6%, including a 150 basis point hit from higher pass-through freight costs.
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Lhoist North America serves steel manufacturing, infrastructure, heavy nonresidential construction and environmental solutions, markets Martin Marietta says it can now reach through a shared limestone base. Company leadership has pointed to lime's mission-critical role in steel production and water treatment, businesses that lean on Martin Marietta's expanding Specialties platform. In the second quarter, that platform delivered $152 million in revenue and $50 million in gross profit, both records, aided by the July 2025 Premier Magnesia acquisition and organic pricing gains. One example the company highlighted: its Woodville lime plant saw shipments exceed 2006 levels by 2% even as broader U.S. aggregates production stayed 25% below its prior peak, a sign of how differently lime demand behaves through a downturn.
The core aggregates business is not standing still either. Second-quarter revenue there hit $1.5 billion, up 16%, while total shipments rose 17% to 61.6 million tons on acquisitions and organic growth in the Central and West divisions. Organic shipments alone grew 2.3%, the fourth straight quarter of gains. Management raised full-year revenue guidance to a range of $7.2 billion to $7.4 billion to reflect the New Frontier Materials acquisition, while reaffirming adjusted EBITDA guidance of $2.36 billion to $2.5 billion. Data center activity in company-served markets climbed 90% year to date, warehouse construction rose 53%, and 70% of under-construction data center and manufacturing square footage sits within 55 miles of a Martin Marietta facility.
Growth has not come free. Average selling prices fell 2% on a headline basis in the second quarter, even though they rose 3.7% once adjusted for geographic mix, a gap that shows how much the picture depends on how you slice it. Reported aggregate gross profit of $418 million absorbed a $52 million noncash inventory step-up charge tied to purchase accounting, and organic cost of goods sold per ton rose 3.6%, including a 150 basis point hit from higher pass-through freight costs.
#billion
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