Germany: Italy-based Buzzi Unicem subsidiary Dyckerhoff has received Concrete Sustainability Council (CSC) Gold certification for all seven of its German cement plants. All 10 of its concrete plants also received Gold certification. The company’s seven cement plants previously received Silver certification from the CSC in 2018. It said that it was especially pleased with its latest achievement giving the more rigorous checks under the certification body’s updated 2.1 version.

Germany: HeidelbergCement’s consolidated net sales grew by 1% year-year to Euro3.96bn in the first quarter of 2021 from Euro3.93bn in the first quarter of 2020. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 23% to Euro538m from Euro436m. The group said that the preliminary results are ‘significantly’ above market expectations.

India: Larsen & Toubro has won a contract for the construction of a 3.5Mt/yr-capacity integrated cement plant at Nimbahera in Rajasthan. The Press Trust of India newspaper has reported that the supplier classed the order’s value as ‘significant,’ meaning between US$134m and US$336m.

Spain: Domestic cement consumption was 3.38Mt in the first quarter of 2021, up by 8% year-on-year from 3.12Mt in 2020. The Spanish Cement Industry Association (Oficemen) partly attributed the increase to export growth, to 665,000t in March 2021, up by 18% from March 2020 levels.

President Víctor Brosa said, ‘A stable year is expected in 2021 compared to 2020 despite the uncertainty surrounding the arrival of funds to reactivate the economy and the evolution of the pandemic."

Malaysia: Malayan Cement is expected to raise US$55.0m through a proposed placement of 10% of its shares. Bernama Daily Malaysian News has reported that the company plans to use US$13.1m as working capital. The remainder will repay its bank debts.

Philippines: Holcim Philippines, part of Switzerland-based LafargeHolcim, has announced the launch of its new Holcim Aqua X concrete. The product contains ‘active water-repellent boosters’ giving it increased resistance to water damage.

The BusinessWorld newspaper has reported that president and chief executive officer Horia-Ciprian Adrian said that Aqua X ‘highlights our great advantage in developing exciting products.’ He added that the product outperforms other concretes on environmental indicators due to its low clinker factor.

Senegal: China-based Sinoma Group subsidiary CBMI Construction has awarded a contract to Denmark-based FLSmidth for the supply of three control systems for one new and two existing lines at the Kirène cement plant in Thiès region. The lines will share a digital infrastructure built on the FLSmidth ECS/ControlCenter platform with ECS/PlantDataManagement software. Additionally, the supplier will equip the new Line 3 with its ECS/CemScanner and QCX/BlendExpert. It said that the setup will use 12,000 data points on Line 3 alone.

Group digital general manager Jens Adler said, “With more than 1500 active product and process control installations in the cement industry, this order reaffirms our strong digital expertise.” He added “Digitalisation is transforming how many in the cement industry respond to increasing demands for emission reductions and efficiency. This is reflected in the emphasis on digital solutions as part of our MissionZero ambition to offer cement producers zero emission cement production by 2030.”

Cuba: Corporacion Cementos Cubanos’ integrated Siguaney plant has resumed production of grey cement after stopping in late 2020 due to technical problems. The plant is targeting grey cement production of 65,000t in 2021, according to the Escambray newspaper. In 2020 local media reported that the plant produced 87,000t of grey cement and 3000t of white cement. At present the plant has 4000t of white cement in inventory and its annual production target for 2021 is 8000t.

Mexico: Cemex has joined a partnership for the development of OpenBuilt, a digital platform aimed at connecting supply chains for the construction industry. The initiative is intended to increase the safety and sustainability of construction practices. Companies using the system will be able to securely connect their current technology and digital platforms to partners, suppliers or subcontractors in their supply chain via a single integration hub. The platform will be developed on the Red Hat OpenShift hybrid cloud platform and run on the IBM Cloud.

Chief executive officer Fernando Gonzalez said "OpenBuilt is a strategic initiative that will help integrate the construction value chain by increasing productivity, innovation, and collaboration." He added "We are constantly seeking to provide a superior experience to our customers through the innovative use of digital technologies."

Switzerland: The Solar Impulse Foundation has certified 10 LafargeHolcim products with its ‘Efficient Solutions’ label. The label designates products which protect the environment in a profitable way. The following LafargeHolcim products now bear the label: 14Trees 3D concrete printing technology; Aggneo recycled aggregate; Airium insulating foam; Bio-Active Concrete for coastal ecosystem rehabilitation; Ductal ultra-lightweight concrete; Durabric earth-based block; ECOPact green concrete; TerraFlow low-carbon cement; Kawach water-repellent cement; and the ORIS digital road design platform.

Chief executive officer Jan Jenisch said “I’m very proud of our strong contribution to the Solar Impulse Foundation’s goal of finding 1000 environmentally positive solutions. With more than half of our research and development efforts focused on sustainable building solutions, we are committed to enabling a net-zero future that works for people and the planet. Today’s endorsement of our clean technologies is a great encouragement for our teams to keep on pushing the boundaries of innovation for sustainable building.”