Adbri

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Adbri is an Australian maker of cement, lime and dry blended products. It runs manufacturing and distribution facilities across South Australia, the Northern Territory, Western Australia and New South Wales, and owns brands such as Cockburn Cement, Sunstate Cement, Northern Cement, Independent Cement & Lime and Building Product Supplies. The Geelong Cement works at Fyansford closed in 2001. In 2024, Adbri was delisted from the Australian Securities Exchange after CRH became the majority shareholder.

Adbri’s roots go back to 1880, when William Lewis started lime kilns near Brighton and Shoreham Roads in Adelaide. The Brighton Cement Works opened in December 1882 to reduce South Australia’s dependence on imported cement, but early sales were poor and it closed in 1883. The works were later revived by new investors, and by 1896 cement from Adelaide Brighton was used in the Happy Valley Reservoir. By 1900 the company owned hundreds of acres and was selling thousands of tons a year. A major fire struck in 1909, and transport relied on horses and, later, an aerial ropeway known as the Flying Fox to move material. The works moved to Angaston in the 1950s, and in the 1970s Brighton Cement merged with the Adelaide Cement Company to form Adelaide Brighton Cement, which later became Adbri.