Europe: Cemex’s annual CO₂ emissions from its European operations fell by 41% in 2022 compared to 1990. It added that it had cut its emissions in the region by 12% between 2020 and 2022. The group attributed the decline to the success of its climate action strategy to date, including a large investment in a new alternative fuels facility in the UK, investments in solar power plants in Germany and Poland and the roll-out of its Vertua reduced-CO₂ products across the region.

Regional president Sergio Menendez said "As we begin to implement the next stages in our climate action strategy, we now expect to exceed our 2030 aspiration of hitting a 55% CO₂ reduction in our European operations. While we are progressing important carbon capture projects and policy advocacy for our ultimate net zero target, these 2030 interim aspirations are not reliant on this technology.” he continued, “This is certainly a challenging target, but I am confident that with innovative thinking, close collaboration between our different business areas and further development of our regulatory framework, it is both feasible and profitable. This sustained effort is vital if we are to meet our global, primary objective of becoming a net-zero CO₂ company by 2050. We will continue to provide regular updates on our progress.”

Nepal: Hetauda Cement Udyog has resumed operations at its Hetauda cement plant after receiving a 1600t delivery of imported coal. República News has reported that importers sourced the coal from Bhutan, India, Indonesia and Pakistan. The Hetauda cement plant had been out of operation since 10 February 2023 due to a lack of coal. The producer said that the latest delivery will last it until 11 March 2023. The producer had ordered 8000t of coal.

India: Orient Cement says that it has 'mutually terminated' a memorandum of understanding with Adani Group subsidiary Adani Power Maharashtra for a sublease of land in Tiroda in Maharashtra. Orient Cement had planned to establish a grinding plant on the land. It is located at the site of Adani Power Maharashtra's Tiroda coal-fired power plant and belongs to the state-owned Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation. The parties signed the agreement in September 2021. The reason for termination was the parties' failure to meet its conditions, even despite extensions beyond the stipulated 365-day period in which to do so.

West Africa: Germany-based InterCem has successfully despatched its second InterHop hopper to West Africa. The hopper will handle clinker and raw materials for an unnamed customer there. The supplier says that the equipment offers an unloading rate of 14,400t/hr. It produced it in the UAE.

India: The price of imported coal ended December 2022 at US$145/t. The figure represented a 15% month-on-month drop from November 2022 levels. HT Media News has reported that the price is the lowest since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Finance company IDBI Capital has forecast that earnings before interest, taxation and amortisation (EBITA) per tonne of cement by local cement producers will rise by US$2.66/t quarter on quarter during the fourth quarter of the 2023 financial year, which will end on 31 March 2023. This is partly due to an anticipated 10% year-on-year decline in coal and petcoke costs during the period, alongside a 10% rise in cement volumes projected over the same period.

Kyrgyzstan: Cement companies produced 2.67Mt of cement nationally in 2022, up by 7.1% year-on-year from 2021 levels, local press has reported. The Eurasian Economic Commission noted that only Armenia outstripped Kyrgyz cement production growth regionally, with an 18% rise to 1.07Mt.

Germany: Heidelberg Materials' sales increased by 13% year-on-year to Euro21.1bn in 2022 from Euro18.7bn in 2021. This was despite a 6.1% drop in cement and clinker volumes, to 119Mt from 127Mt. Heidelberg Materials' cement and clinker volumes fell by 10% in Western and Southern Europe, by 7.8% in Northern and Eastern Europe-Central Asia, by 14% in North America, by 1.3% in Africa-Eastern Mediterranean Basin and by under 1% in Asia-Pacific. The group's materials costs rose by 23% to Euro21.4bn from Euro18.8bn. Meanwhile, its profit dropped by 9.4% to Euro1.72bn from Euro1.9bn.

Chief executive officer Dominik von Achten said "It’s evident that we can only be profitable in the long term by shaping our future as a company in a climate-compatible way, further reducing the footprint of our products and closing material loops. We are making good strides in all areas. Compared with the previous year, we were able to reduce our specific net CO₂ emissions by another 2% in 2022. Our carbon capture, utilisation and storage projects launched worldwide are progressing favourably. At our CCS project in Brevik, Norway, we are well on track with the construction of the world's first CO₂ capture plant in our industry, and we look forward to commissioning in 2024." Von Achten continued "We have made a good start to 2023. The fourth quarter showed that we have laid a good foundation for the development in this year. Volatility on energy and raw material markets remains high, but the current easing in energy prices is giving us some breathing room. On the demand side, government infrastructure plans should compensate for the decline in private housing construction. We are optimistic about the further course of the year.”

Pakistan: Bestway Cement has published its first-half results for the 2023 Pakistan financial year, showing a 20% year-on-year rise in its gross turnover to US$222m from US$185m. Its cost of sales rose by 25% to US$110m, but failed to offset sales growth, resulting in 23% profit growth to US$44.5m from US$35.3m.

Pakistan: DG Khan Cement recorded sales of US$114m during the first half of the 2023 Pakistani financial year. The figure corresponds to growth of 8.5% year-on-year from US$105m in the first half of the 2022 financial year. Its cost of sales was US$97.4m, up by 82% from US$53.4m. Its profit was US$3.56m, up by 72% from US$2.07m.

Pakistan: Pioneer Cement's sales were US$95.7m in the first half of its 2023 financial year. This corresponds to a 19% year-on-year rise from US$80.2m in the first half of the 2022 financial year. The producer overcame 20% growth in its cost of sales to US$53.2m from US$44.2m, to record a profit after tax of US$6.72m, up by 54% from US$4.36m.