Russia: Siberian Cement produced 4.6Mt in 2020 from its five plants, a decline of 4.7% year-on-year. Notably, its integrated Krasnoyarsk cement plant managed to increase production by 3% to 0.63Mt. Majority owned subsidiaries, Iskitimcement and Angarskcement, officially became part of Siberian Cement in mid-June 2020. The group currently reports it has a production capacity of 9Mt/yr.

Japan: Sumitomo Osaka Cement has been declared eligible for the Development Bank of Japan’s (DBJ) Environmental Rating loan program for the second time. The scheme offers preferential interest rates to companies scoring highly in environmental management based on the bank’s screening system. The cement producer says it obtained the ranking through its promotion of energy saving, waste recycling and greenhouse emission reduction targets for 2030 and 2050 in its business strategy.

Uganda: Hima Cement has introduced Kafluu, a chatbot-led initiative that lets customers order products via WhatsApp. The subsidiary of LafargeHolcim says that customers can use the platform 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to manage their orders and transactions. The automated chatbot software guides customers through the ordering process, gathering specifics like the product type, number of bags, delivery site and payment options. Payment is available via MTN MoMo Pay or bank transfer.

“We are always looking to improve the customer experience and Kafluu is able to respond quickly and effectively, enabling customers to place orders, make payments and input their delivery information with ease,” says Israel Tinkasimiire, the Hima Cement Sales Director.

The initiative is being piloted in Mbarara first before rollout in the rest of the country.

France: Mexico-based Cemex has sold 24 concrete plants and an aggregates quarry in southeast France to Switzerland-based LafargeHolcim. Finalisation of the deal is expected in April 2021 and no approval by competition bodies is required. No value for the sale has been disclosed. The group said that the divestment is part of its strategy of focused portfolio development into high-growth markets.

France: LafargeHolcim subsidiary Lafarge France has completed the renovation of its 70m³/hr Larrieu concrete plant in Toulouse, Haute-Garonne Department. The renovated facility is equipped with six cement silos, two of which are dedicated to low-carbon cements for the production of ECOPact low-carbon concrete. It also has eight aggregate hoppers, including one dedicated to recycled concrete aggregates, and two mixer loading stations with forward truck access for safety. The total cost of the upgrade was Euro3m.

Haute-Garonne sector head Vincent Pelloquin praised the project’s speed and ability to rebuild the concrete plant in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.

Lafarge France is presently engaged in a systematic modernisation of its concrete plants.

Pakistan: Lucky Cement plans to further upgrade its integrated Pezu plant following strong results in the first half of its financial year. It intends to increase the production capacity at the unit by 3.15Mt/yr. The cost of the project will be announced following the conclusion of negotiations with suppliers. Work is expected to start in 2021 and be completed in 2023.

The cement producer recorded sales of US$188m in the first half of its 2021 financial year (1 July 2020 – 30 June 2021), up by 42% year-on-year from US$132m in the first half of its 2020 financial year. Cement and clinker sales volumes grew by 36% to 5Mt from 3.7Mt. Its profit after tax more than doubled to US$28.3m from US$12.1m. It attributed this to higher production capacity at its Pezu plant as well as higher demand in the market generally.

Lucky Cement also reported that its new 1.2Mt/yr integrated plant at Samawah in Iraq started its kiln in the first week of January 2021 and trial production started in mid-January 2021. Commercial production is scheduled to start in February 2021.

India: Shree Cement has recorded consolidated net sales of US$1.27bn in the first nine months of its 2021 financial year (1 April 2020 – 31 March 2021), down by 2% year-on-year from US$1.29bn in the corresponding period of its 2019 financial year. The group’s net profit increased by 52% to US$204m from US$138m.

The company is currently working on a 6Mt/yr addition to its grinding capacity, consisting of two new grinding plants, in Athagarh Tehsil, Odisha, and Patas, Maharashtra. The facilities had been scheduled for completion in the first half of the 2021 financial year.

US: The Portland Cement Association (PCA) has updated its winter 2020 – 2021 economic forecast. Senior vice president and chief economist Ed Sullivan said that in light of possible delays of three months or more to the national Covid-19 vaccine rollout, predicted robust economic recovery will be ‘slower than expected’ compared to expectations stated in the original forecast in December 2020. The PCA’s Market Intelligence Group expects cement consumption to grow by nearly 1% year-on-year in 2021, fueled largely by residential construction.

Japan/Indonesia: Taiheiyo Cement says that its board has approved and concluded its deal with Semen Indonesia to buy a 15% stake in its subsidiary Solusi Bangun Indonesia (SBI) for around US$220m. As part of the agreement, SBI’s Tuban plant will increase its export capacity by building a new jetty and silos. It will then export 0.5Mt/yr of cement to Taiheiyo Cement’s subsidiary in the US. The Japanese cement producer said that is focusing on markets in South-East Asia as part of its sustainable business development strategy in response to projected long term declining cement demand in Japan.

Greece: Titan Cement has signed a frame agreement with Belgium-based Magotteaux whereby the latter will continue to be the main partner for grinding media for Titan cement plants worldwide until the end of 2021. Magotteaux says that the deal follows the ‘very successful’ implementation of the first phase of a strategic partnership.

The supplier said, “Magotteaux is also proud to supply many more technical solutions to Titan, including ball mill internal cast parts such as liners and diaphragms.” It added, “The aim of this agreement is to improve Titan’s overall cost of production, by increasing the productivity, reducing maintenance cost and downtime, by using the latest technologies for the abrasive and impact applications.”