Abstract: A method is disclosed for heat treating pulverous raw material such as cement raw meal prior to subjecting it to further heat treatment such as sintering. By directing the raw material to a multi-stage preheater having a final stage which comprises at least two substantially equivalent sub-stages and directing hot gases to the preheater in a manner to contact the raw material, an effective heat exchange between the raw material and the hot gases is achieved. The raw material is directed from the penultimate preheater stage so as to be entrained in the hot gases prior to directing the hot gases to the sub-stages of the final stage of the preheater and the hot gases and entrained raw material are divided into substantially equal divisional flows with each divisional flow being associated with a sub-stage of the final stage.