Spain: Heidelberg Materials Hispania has appointed Carlos Sánchez Galán as its Director General. He succeeds Jesús Ortiz Used in the post.

Sánchez Galán most recently worked as the Cement Commercial Director and Aggregates & Readymix Operations Director for the Spain-based subsidiary of Heidelberg Materials. Prior to this he was the Director Of Business Operations & Procurement. Throughout his career he has held a variety of managerial business development roles as well as working in commercial operations and purchasing. He originally joined Heidelberg Materials in 1997 as the Director for the Canary Islands.

Sánchez Galán is a graduate in Economics and Business Sciences from the Complutense University of Madrid with a master's degree in business administration (MBA) from the Australian Graduate School of Management and a qualification in quarry technology from Doncaster College in the UK. He was also the president of the Spanish Association for concrete and mortar admixtures (ANFAH) from 2015 to 2017.

Türkiye: Two members of the cement sector have reportedly died in a fire at the Bolu Kartalkaya Ski Center. Aysemin Elif Dogan, Mehmet Cem Dogan and their daughter perished in the incident, according to posts by their employers on LinkedIn. 76 people have so far reported to have been killed.

Aysemin Elif Dogan was the R&D and Quality Director for Baştaş Çimento, a subsidiary of France-based Vicat.

Mehmet Cem Dogan had been the plant manager of OYAK Çimento’s Bolu plant in Caydurt since 2023. Prior to this he was the manager of a plant in Ankara. Dogan previously worked for Vicat’s subsidiary Baştaş Çimento and Cimpor in process engineering and production management roles.

China: Sinoma International Engineering has appointed Yin Ling as its chief financial officer and as a vice president. She succeeds Wang Yuan in the post. Yuan will continue to work as a vice president for the company.
Ling holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and is trained as an accountant. She has worked for Huazheng Certified Public Accountants, China Fiberglass and as the general manager for the finance department of China National Building Materials.

UK: Cemvision has launched one of the UK’s first commercial applications of its low-carbon Re-ment cement technology at a STOREX self storage development in Sunbury, near London. The foundational slabs for the site employ Cemvision's Re-ment Massive product, which replaces traditional Portland cement. Recent laboratory tests have shown that the product achieves a 75% CO₂ reduction and a 28-day compressive strength, that reaches the C50/60 classification, compared to traditional Portland cement. STOREX and Cemvision have signed a Letter of Intent for further collaboration in the UK and other markets.

“This project is a landmark achievement for Cemvision as we bring the benefits of green cement to UK customers,” said Oscar Hållén, CEO of Cemvision.

Cemvision says that its Re-Ment Massive technology reaches different levels of CO₂ reduction depending on application and local conditions, with the product already having achieved more than a 95% reduction compared to Portland cement in demo production in the EU, according to the company.

Portugal: CBMI has signed an engineering, procurement and construction contract with SECIL Cement Group for the renovation of the 1800t/day clinker line at the Maceira plant.

The project includes the installation of a new firing system and a series of upgrades to improve energy and heat efficiency. The upgrade encompasses five decarbonisation measures, including a 100% alternative fuel design rate, with the aim to decrease CO₂ emissions by 30% compared to 2019 levels. This would reportedly reduce CO₂ emissions to 550kg/t of clinker.

India: Dalmia Bharat recorded a 2% year-on-year decline in cement sales volumes to 6.7Mt in the third quarter of the 2025 financial year, compared to 6.8Mt in the previous corresponding period. Profit before tax dropped by 77% to US$9.6m, while earnings by interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) dropped by 34.5% to US$5.9m from US$9m in the same period last year.

Managing director and CEO Puneet Dalmia said “After multiple years of high growth, India witnessed a slightly slow start to the year, but the government's continuous focus on investment-led growth underpin my confidence in a rebound of the Indian economy. In this backdrop, I believe cement demand growth will regain momentum. Our capacity expansion plans are on track, as we will reach 49.5Mt/yr by the end of 2025.”

CFO Dharmender Tuteja added “Cement demand growth in the third quarter fell short of our earlier expectations. Our volumes declined by 2% year-on-year while EBITDA fell 34.5% year-on-year to US$5.9m with persistent weakness in cement prices. With demand now gaining traction and prices showing signs of optimism, we are confident about a stronger performance in the upcoming quarters.”

India: Nuvoco Vistas has reported 16% year-on-year growth in its consolidated cement sales to 4.7Mt in the third quarter of the 2025 financial year ending on 31 December 2024.  Consolidated revenue from operations stood at US$279m and consolidated EBITDA at US$30m. In its release, the company stated that the cement industry was recovering following a challenging first half of the 2025 financial year and subdued demand.

Nuvoco stated that it had achieved the industry's ‘lowest carbon emissions’ at 457kg of CO₂ per tonne of cementitious materials.

Managing director Jayakumar Krishnaswamy said “The company proactively seized demand opportunities to bolster its position in the market and delivered strong volume growth during the quarter. The company is confident in its expansion strategy and ability to execute on growth plans pertaining to Vadraj Cement, which will diversify its market footprint in western India, thereby supporting long-term growth ambitions and further consolidating its position as the fifth largest player in India.”

The company is reportedly on track to achieve 31Mt/yr cement capacity by the third quarter of the 2027 financial year.

US: The US Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management has selected Cemex's Knoxville cement plant in Tennessee as the site for a carbon capture, removal and conversion test centre. The project is part of a US$101m initiative shared among five projects that aim to decarbonise cement plants and power facilities.

Cemex, in collaboration with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and a coalition of US cement producers, will develop the conceptual design, business, technical and managerial frameworks for the test centre under Phase 1. Phase 2 will involve constructing and operating the centre to evaluate advanced carbon management systems.

Jaime Muguiro, president of Cemex US, said “While we are making steady progress, the cement industry has the opportunity to accelerate the pace of our decarbonisation even more. I am excited that our Knoxville cement plant has been selected as the host site for the carbon capture test centre. Through collaboration and continuous innovation with the University of Illinois and industry peers, Cemex is committed to advancing decarbonisation solutions.”

Saudi Arabia: Eastern Province Cement Company (EPCC) will install two MVR 5000 R-4 vertical roller mills from Gebr. Pfeiffer at its Khursaniyah plant, as part of a new 3.2Mt/yr (10,000t/day) production line. The mills will grind 550t/hr of cement raw material to a fineness of ≤10%R on 90µm.

The MVR mills are expected to improve technical availability, while reducing operating costs and emissions. This project marks the first installation of MVR vertical roller mills in Saudi Arabia and is being managed by Chinese contractor CBMI. Commissioning is scheduled for the second half of 2025.

Saudi Arabia: Cement sales increased by 12% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2024, reaching 14.87Mt, Arab News reports. Sales were primarily driven by domestic demand, which accounted for 96% of total sales. Exports contributed the remaining 4%, according to data from Al-Yamama Cement. For the full year, cement sales grew by 3.7% to 51.2Mt.

Al-Yamama Cement led the domestic market in the fourth quarter of 2024, with a 13% share and sales of 1.83Mt, up by 22% year-on-year. Qassim Cement, after acquiring Hail Cement, held an 11% share with 1.63Mt of sales. Yanbu Cement, Southern Cement, and Al Jouf Cement followed.

During the same period, Saudi Cement dominated in exports with 0.49Mt, representing 80% of total shipments and a 71% year-on-year increase. Clinker production grew by 7% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2024 to 14.9Mt, while clinker exports fell by 28% to 1.15Mt.

Amr Nader, CEO of cement consultancy A3&Co, said “These figures may not fully align with the anticipated surge in demand from ambitious infrastructure projects. Megaprojects such as NEOM, the Red Sea project, and FIFA World Cup-related developments require vast quantities of construction materials. The maximum anticipated demand in the next five years is 78Mt/yr.”