India: Power company OPGC has dispatched its first shipment of fly ash to ACC’s Jhinkpani cement plant in West Singhbhum district, Jharkhand. The Pioneer newspaper has reported that the shipment consists of 3450t of fly ash from its Ib power plant. The power plant has fly ash storage facilities with a capacity of 6900t. It previously supplied ash to a Star Cement cement plant in Assam.

US: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed an administrative complaint and authorised a legal suit against Lehigh Cement’s acquisition of Keystone Cement. The HeidelbergCement subsidiary acquired the subsidiary of Mexico-based Elementia in September 2019. The commission said that the acquisition may be harmful to competition in the grey cement market in Pennsylvania and New Jersey as it reduces the number of competitors to three from four and enlarges the largest. It added that Keystone Cement’s aggressive pricing had previously caused Lehigh Cement to lower its prices.

The case will go to trial at administrative court in November 2021.

Iran: Hossein Modares Khyabani, the former head of the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade, has called for cement to be traded on the Mercantile Exchange, a commodities exchange based in Tehran. He hoped that the move would enable cement producers to upgrade plants and increase exports, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency. The aim is to have producers generate mhigher profits and build infrastructure development.

Local cement production grew by 13% year-on-year to 68Mt in the Iranian calendar year to March 2021. However, gas, electricity and transportation costs all grew significantly during the period.

Taiwan: Asia Cement Corporation has completed its US$1.3m full shore power project for its cement vessels. Following the upgrade its cement carriers use the ‘Taipower’ power supply when berthed at port instead of using on-board generators. The project has been implemented at the ports of Kaohsiung, Taichung, Keelung and Hualien. The cement producer currently operates four cement carriers.

The shipping upgrade is expected to save over 1474t/yr of fuel oil and effectively reduce 5329t/yr of CO₂ emissions. The cement producer added that it would improve the unloading efficiency of cement carriers, decreasing the unloading time by 50%, and reduce wear on the ship generators.

France: Saint-Gobain has agreed to buy Chryso for an undisclosed sum. It said that the construction chemicals producer had an enterprise value of Euro1.02bn, based on its recent earnings and anticipated synergies. Saint-Gobain intends to finance the acquisition from the proceeds of other divestments made by the group. Key benefits it expects from the purchase include a strengthened position in the construction chemicals market, market growth in the sector, further strategic movements towards sustainability goals through the use of additives, anticipated ease of integration and value for shareholders.

“The acquisition of Chryso is a unique growth platform opportunity for Saint-Gobain to further develop our already strong presence in the growing construction chemicals market. It is fully in line with our environment, social and governance strategy of providing a sustainable and performance driven value proposition to our customers,” commented Pierre-André de Chalendar, chairman and chief executive officer of Saint-Gobain, and Benoit Bazin, chief operating officer.

Subject to consultation and approval with employee representative bodies and competition authorities the acquisition is expected to be finalised in the second half of 2021.

Germany: HeidelbergCement has completed a comprehensive Concrete Sustainability Council (CSC) certification campaign at its 10 cement plants, 12 concrete plants and five aggregates sites underwent the certification process. One cement plant– the Lengfurt, Bavaria, plant - and two concrete plants achieved Platinum certification. The Lengfurt cement plant is the first German cement plant to do so.

Senior manager sustainable construction and public affairs Christian Artelt said “CSC certification allows production sites to gain a holistic understanding of their sustainability performance.” He added “Our successful engagement in CSC certification highlights our commitment to sustainability.”

Mexico: Cemex says that it has supplied its low-CO₂ Vertua concrete to 786 construction works in Mexico. The El Sol de San Luis newspaper has reported that the volume so far delivered totals 33,000m³. In late May 2021, 398 further projects have placed orders for future deliveries.

Italy: Switzerland-based LafargeHolcim has announced its participation in a partnership to build the world’s first 3D-printed concrete bridge in Venice, Venice province. The company will supply cement for the project. The bridge will feature in the European Cultural Centre (ECC)’s Time Space Existence exhibition at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2021 from May 2021 to November 2021. Other partners for the project are ETH Zürich’s Block Research Group (BRG) and UK-based Zaha Hadid Architects’ Computation and Design Group.

Argentina: Holcim Argentina, part of Switzerland-based LafargeHolcim, has inaugurated a new 0.5Mt/yr clinker production line at its Malagueño cement plant in Cordoba. The new line increases the plant’s clinker production capacity by 45%. Additionally, a new 630,000t/yr grinding plant will increase the plant’s cement capacity to 4.7Mt/yr.

Chief executive officer Christian Dedeu said, "With this expansion of our capacity, more than 450km of road and more than 7.2Mm² of housing can be built - equivalent to more than 72,000 houses." He added, "The new line is a big bet on the domestic market and responds to the growing national demand for materials for residential construction, private investment and infrastructure works."

US: Eagle Materials recorded consolidated net sales of US$1.62bn in its 2021 financial year, up by 16% year-on-year from US$1.40bn. Its net earnings quadrupled to US$339m from US$70.9m. Cement sales volumes increased by 26% to 7.47Mt from 5.93Mt and cement sales increased by 27% to US$924m from US$730m.

President and chief executive officer Michael Haack said, “Across all measures, fiscal 2021 was extraordinary for Eagle as we met and overcame challenges that were inconceivable just a year earlier. The resilience of our business model, our financial discipline and our team’s operational and strategic execution allowed us to deliver record financial results, integrate the largest acquisition in the company’s history and further streamline our business portfolio by divesting several non-core businesses, all while achieving industry leading safety performance. Our strong operating cash flow enabled us to reduce leverage to under 1.5 times net debt-to-earnings before interest taxation depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), providing us with significant liquidity and increased financial flexibility.” He continued “As we begin our new fiscal year, Eagle is well-positioned, both geographically and financially, with ample raw material reserves to capitalise on the underlying demand fundamentals that are expected to support steady and sustainable construction activity growth over the near and long-term. We remain confident in Eagle’s prospects for continued growth and sustainable value creation for all shareholders.”