UK: Cemex UK says that construction company Kier used concretes from its reduced-carbon dioxide (CO₂) Vertua range to complete a net-zero CO₂ residential construction project at the University Warwick. Sales executive Matthew Doran said that the student accommodation, called Cryfield, “was the first project for which Kier has chosen to use the Vertua range and it was an exciting opportunity for Cemex to demonstrate the value of this product as both a high-performance and sustainable choice.”

France: Eqiom has announced the relocation of its headquarters to Courbevoie, Hauts-de-Seine Department from Levallois-Perret, also in Hauts-de-Seine Department. The company said that “new working methods favouring digital work, the agility of group work and the importance of good life practices” compounded the decision to move. It added, “The transfer operation was completed in just three days with no major surprises.”

Zimbabwe: LafargeHolcim subsidiary Lafarge Zimbabwe and China National Building Materials (CNBM) subsidiary CBMI have announced the signing of a contract for the establishment of a 0.7Mt/yr-capacity grinding plant at the 0.5Mt/yr Manresa cement plant in Harare. CBMI executive director and general manager Tong Laigou said that, when completed, the plant “will significantly increase the market occupation rate, competition and influence power of Lafarge Zimbabwe, and will also ease the cement supply tension in the country.”

Vietnam: China-based Sinoma International Engineering has announced its receipt of a provisional acceptance certificate (PAC) from the owner of the 1.8Mt/yr Tonglin cement plant, signifying the handover of the finished plant. The parties originally signed the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the plant in August 2009.

Australia: Adelaide Brighton has secured a renewal of its contract with BHP for supply of cement and lime to its Olympic Dam, South Australia mine until 2026. The producer has said that the contract would generate US$116m in revenue for the group over the full six year term of the deal.

Chief executive officer (CEO) Nick Miller said, “We are pleased to extend our long-term relationship with BHP at its Olympic Dam project, which demonstrates the strength of our integrated cement and lime position, as well as our high quality and cost competitive product offering. We thank BHP for supporting a home-grown producer over an imported product, which protects local jobs and benefits the broader South Australian economy.

Argentina: The Portland Cement Producers Association says that domestic cement consumption was 1.1Mt in August 2020, up by 6.4% month-on-month from 1.0Mt in July 2020. Eight-month consumption remains below 2019 levels, by 26% at 7.5Mt from 9.4Mt over the corresponding period of 2019. August production fell by 12% year-on-year to 1.1Mt from 1.2Mt.

Germany: Inclusive Development International, the Heinrich Böll Foundation and FoodFirst Information and Action Network (FIAN) Germany have filed a complaint with the German government about HeidelbergCement subsidiary Indocement’s planned Kendeng, East Java integrated cement plant and quarry, which they say may adversely impact 35,000 livelihoods in the agricultural region. FIAN Germany managing director Philipp Mimkes said, “The government must meet its human rights obligations and act immediately. The rights to food and water of the communities in Kendeng must be protected against threatened injuries by this HeidelbergCement subsidiary. The food security of thousands of local farmers is at stake.”

The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has warned local cement producers to rein in their more outlandish claims. In a letter reported upon by the Economic Times newspaper this week, the government department has accused some manufacturers of making both objective and subjective claims about their products that strained credulity and didn’t fit the corresponding official standards. One industry source from the newspaper blamed the crackdown on some producers claiming that their cement products helped protect people from Covid-19! In their view the bureau was now over-enforcing its rules in retaliation. Given the severity of the outbreak in India - it has the second highest number of reported cases in the world this week - the response of the authorities is understandable to say the least.

The distinction between objective and subjective exaggeration that the BIS makes it worth looking at in more detail. For example, objective or supposedly fact-based claims the BIS cited included: ‘Protect Steel in Concrete’; ‘Protect Concrete from Corrosion’; ‘Corrosion Resistant’; ‘Weather Proof’; and ‘Damp Proof.’ Then, there were subjective, or more emotionally evocative, claims along the lines of ‘strong’ or ‘high performance.’ The BIS then outlines the specific ways in which objective and subjective assertions can be used. Objective claims should be avoided on marketing and packaging material. Subjective claims should, “explicitly indicate that such claims are not covered under the scope of BIS licence granted to them and the responsibility of such claims lies with them.”

Marketing is a big part of standing out in the crowded Indian cement market with producers sponsoring major sports teams. This might seem odd to readers elsewhere in the world but it demonstrates the target market, the importance of cement as a commodity to the general public and the power of brand awareness. Amubja Cement’s logo of a man with a Charles Atlas style physique cuddling a building sums up the message they want to convey: strength. No wonder producers are wary of the BIS wading in.

Standards also appeared in another news story this week with the announcement that Taiwan Cement Corporation (TCC) had obtained the first cement product carbon footprint label issued by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) in the country. Its products will be marked with carbon footprint labels from the fourth quarter of 2020.

This shows a general trend in cement products towards showing sustainability credentials from putting environmental footprint data in front of specifiers for large projects towards making it a more basic retail selling point. Lots of other cement producers around the world have done and/or are doing similar things, from the dedicated slag cement manufacturers to the larger producers routinely releasing and promoting new low-CO₂ products. To pick one example from many, in July 2020 LafargeHolcim France introduced ‘360Score CO₂ emissions reduction ratings’ to its bagged cement range. The score, between ’A’ and ’D,’ corresponds to the factor of CO₂ compared to CEM-I Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), with ‘A’ products producing less CO₂ than ‘D’ products in their overall creation.

To look at an older example of the need for standards generally, building collapses in Nigeria appeared to increase post-2000, with the misuse of lower-grade cements blamed for the situation. The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) took action in 2014, local producers introduced higher strength cements and the problem was reduced. Given the intangible nature of measuring sustainability in cement products there is a need for reliable standards. Unlike performance metrics, such as a strength or durability, the CO₂ footprint of a cement product will generally remain utterly intangible for most end-users. The effects of CO₂ emissions are continually analysed and debated, but the negative climate effects of cement products are more akin to someone else’s house flooding on the other side of the world 50 years later, than one’s own house falling down a decade later due to using the wrong strength cement. So, some form of trustworthy enforcement for sustainability standards is crucial. Standards may represent ‘boring’ bureaucratic red tape at its most officious but we need them. In India and elsewhere though, the debate on enforcement continues.

China: Tongfang Kontafarma has appointed Chai Hongjie as its chairman. He succeeds Huang Yu, who will become the company’s president. The company, through its subsidiaries, mainly manufactures and sells cement, clinker and slag, trades cement and provides technical services with operations in Shandong province and Shanghai.

Chai, aged 46 years, has experience in corporate management and strategic planning for business development. He is currently the chairman of the board of directors of Shenzhen Waranty and a director of Shenzhen Huakong Seg. Prior to joining Tongfang Kontafarma group, Chai held positions as chairman of the board, directors and senior management in various companies and organisations, including the Changzhi Division of China Banking Regulatory Commission, Shanxi Guoxin Investment Group, Zhonghesheng Capital, Shanxi Financial Investment Holding Group and Shanxi Guotou Sports Industrial Group.

Chai obtained a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Department of Finance, Shanxi Institute of Economics (now known as Shanxi University of Economics) in 1996. He was qualified as an intermediate accountant in 1997.

Gabon: A new 0.35Mt/yr production line has started production at Ciments d'Afrique’s (CIMAF) Owendo grinding plant. Spain-based Cemengal supplied a 50t/hr Plug&Grind X-treme grinding plant for the project. Successful commissioning and start-up of the unit was managed remotely from Madrid in Spain due to the coronavirus pandemic. The upgrade cost around US$16m.

The addition brings the plant’s total production capacity to 0.85Mt/yr, according to Direct Infos Gabon. The cement producer is also planning to spend US$120m towards building an integrated plant in the country. Nationally, the country reportedly now has a production capacity of around 1.2Mt/yr.