Displaying items by tag: Cemex
Mexico: Cemex Ventures, the corporate venture capital and open innovation unit of Cemex, has published its fifth annual Top 50 Contech Startups list for 2024. The Top 50 lists the start-ups operating in the global construction technology sector that Cemex Ventures believes show the greatest disruptive potential. The unit evaluates start-ups across four strategic areas: green construction; enhanced productivity; construction supply chain; and future of construction.
In 2023, global construction technology investments totalled US$3.03bn, down by 44% year-on-year due to macroeconomic factors impacting funding. Investments in enhanced productivity accounted for 45% of the total, and investments in green construction for 24%.
Gonzalo Galindo, head of Cemex Ventures, said "Our investment analysts track investment data throughout the year and continually engage with global start-ups to target the most innovative solutions that are consistent with our mission to foster the construction industry revolution. Innovation requires a long-term approach and cannot be defined by a year alone, but our Top 50 Contech Startups list and report helps us track innovation through investment and technology adoption and gauge the health of the construction start-up ecosystem.”
Cemex Czech Republic resubmits revised environmental impact assessment for expanded Prachovice quarry
03 January 2024Czech Republic: Cemex Czech Republic resubmitted a revised environmental impact assessment (EIA) for its Prachovice quarry on 29 December 2023. Under the revised EIA, the quarry’s area will remain unchanged, but operations will expand to 1.7Mt/yr from 1.2Mt/yr. Authorities twice rejected previous EIAs for the mine.
Newton Media News has reported that the company says that its tests ‘clearly verified that the increased level of total organic carbon in air emissions was caused by one of the additives used in processing, and not by the content of organic substances in the mined raw material.’
Spain: Cemex España has announced its participation in the HYIELD consortium, which plans to build a waste-to-hydrogen demonstration plant at the producer’s Alcanar cement plant in Catalonia. The demonstration plant will process a total of 2000t of biogenic waste to produce 400t of green hydrogen for use as fuel, fertiliser and for other applications. The trial commands Euro10m in funding from the EU’s research and innovation funding programme Horizon Europe. Parent company Cemex believes that the technology being demonstrated at Alcanar has the potential to process 300Mt/yr of waste across Europe and produce 30Mt/yr of hydrogen.
Cemex’s Europe, Middle East and Africa regional president Sergio Menendez said “As part of its drive towards reaching net zero by 2050, Cemex is committed to partnering with like-minded organisations to explore the very latest innovations in more sustainable technology that can support the cement production process. We are proud to provide one of our cement plants in Spain as the location for the HYIELD trial and excited to see the outcomes from this research and development project.”
Cemex Ventures raises stake in HiiROC
20 December 2023UK: Cemex’s corporate venture capital and open innovation unit Cemex Ventures has increased its stake in green hydrogen production technology developer HiiROC. Cemex Ventures described hydrogen as a ‘breakthrough approach’ to CO2 reduction in the cement sector.
Head of Cemex Ventures Gonzalo Galindo said "This news comes at a critical moment, when COP28 has brought the world together to address and refocus the climate agenda and buckle down on the responsibility of governments and private corporations to deliver on their decarbonisation objectives ahead of 2030. With our increased investment in HiiROC, we are especially proud to be number one in the use of hydrogen in the cement sector and are committed to keep scouting new ways to deploy hydrogen at a grand scale at Cemex’s 60 cement and grinding plants.”
Cemex is a Top 100 Corporate Startup Star
13 December 2023Mexico: The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and Mind the Bridge have named Cemex among construction industry sustainability leaders at the Top 100 Corporate Startup Stars 2023. The designation recognises work towards world-class open innovation and sustainability practices and successes in establishing collaborations between corporations and start-ups.
Gonzalo Galindo, head of Cemex’s venture capital arm Cemex Ventures, said “Fostering innovation, one of Cemex’s core values, is a fundamental aspect of our company culture and central to our commitment to our customers and communities in which we are present. We’re thrilled to be considered among some of the world’s most innovative companies in this year’s Corporate Startup Stars list, and will continue to disrupt the status quo and foster the construction industry revolution.”
Cemex raises European reduced-CO2 cement volumes to 20% of sales
11 December 2023Europe: Cemex says that sales of reduced-CO2 cement from its Vertua range comprised 20% of its sales in Europe by volume in November 2023. The range includes Vertua Supreme cement, which offers 55% lower CO2 emissions than ordinary Portland cement (OPC). Cemex attributed its success in developing Vertua Supreme cement to advances in product design and manufacturing technology, including the use of hydrogen in its cement kilns.
Cemex refinances US$347m loan
08 December 2023Mexico: Cemex has increased its borrowing under a credit agreement with Banorte by 15% to US$347m, and extended its maturity to 2028 from 2026 previously.
Cemex told investors "The credit agreement, denominated in Mexican pesos, will have an interest rate margin dependent on the leverage ratio slightly lower than that applicable prior to the refinancing, and financial obligations consistent with an investment grade capital structure."
Cemex launches 1000th reduced-CO2 truck
05 December 2023Mexico: Cemex has reached 1000 reduced-CO2 trucks in operation across its global cement business. This includes trucks fuelled by renewable diesel and natural gas. These efforts have reduced its global transport CO2 emissions by 5% since 2020, in line with the group’s commitment to a 30% reduction by 2030.
Chief executive officer Fernando González said “Our net-zero transition is supported by proven and readily-available lower-carbon technologies that guarantee that we meet our short and medium-term decarbonisation commitments. At the same time, we remain at the forefront of innovation and emerging transportation technologies so we can achieve our ultimate goal of becoming a net-zero CO2 company by 2050.”
Spain: Cemex’s venture capital unit Cemex Ventures announced the launch of its second LeapLab accelerator programme for high-potential start-ups on 30 November 2023. The programme introduces a cohort of five start-ups from around the globe, which will carry out pilot-scale tests of their technologies across 100 Cemex sites in 12 different countries. Throughout the process, experts from Cemex and partner organisations will support the work of the start-ups as mentors, pilot leaders, speakers and assistants, as well as providing business advice and support in network building. The selected start-ups are AI technology developers Introid, Mixteresting and Verusen, hybrid vehicle fuel optimisation company Movener and water monitoring specialist Waterplan.
Cemex’s executive vice president of digital and organisation development Luis Hernández said “Start-up acceleration is a key pillar of Cemex’s open innovation strategy, since the time to scale the technologies that enable us to build a better future is now. By combining the disruptive solutions and agility of start-ups with Cemex’s extensive industry networks and resources, start-up acceleration is a vehicle for tangible innovation generation.”
Jamaica: Caribbean Cement has appointed Jorge Alejandro Martinez Mora as its managing director with effect from 1 December 2023. He succeeds Yago Castro Izaguirre in the post. Castro Izaguirre has been the head of Caribbean Cement since late 2020. He will take up another role in Cemex Group.
Martinez Mora is a civil engineer with knowledge and experience in commercial, corporate and operational fields. He has worked for Cemex and its subsidiaries since 2004 and, most recently, held the position of Builders Segment Regional Director for the Cemex Group's Central Region in Mexico, based in Mexico City.