02 March 2021

Uzbekistan: Russia-based Eurocement has begun the auction for its 84% stake in Akhangarancement. Sputnik News has reported the total value of the stake as US$40.8m. In February 2021, Sberbank announced the start of a sale for the cement producer and its subsidiaries with the announcement of a buyer planned for April 2021.

Nigeria: LafargeHolcim subsidiary Lafarge Africa plans to invest US$8m on an upgrade to the electrostatic precipitator filters at the bagging plant at its Ewekero cement plant. The Punch newspaper has reported that the upgrade requires a six-month shutdown of the unit’s kilns to make the changes. Chief executive officer Khaled El-Dokani said that the investment ‘underscores the company’s commitment’ to sustainability.

Ethiopia: Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed says that a new 7000t/day cement plant is almost ready for commissioning. New Business Ethiopia News has reported that the government hopes that the unnamed unit will be operational by June 2021. The 2.5Mt/yr Abay Cement plant at Dejen in Amhara region was previously scheduled for opening in 2021. The news comes at a time of rapid cement price rises in the country. A large black market has also arisen to serve overextended demand.

Germany: HeidelbergCement has detailed how it uses bonuses to ensure country and cement plant managers achieve their CO₂ reduction targets. Chief financial officer Lorenz Näger explained to financial analysts following the publication of the group’s fourth quarter results for 2020, that a plant’s annual reduction target is calculated against the group-wide ‘525 by 2025’ target of CO₂ emissions of 525kg/t of cementitious material by 2025. Plant performance against this is multiplied with a financial target to determine a manager’s bonus. This enables for the enlargement of bonuses at financially well-performing plants which exceed their emissions reduction targets. A similar mechanism is also used for country managers. Näger called the incentive mechanism a ‘step-changer.’

Japan: Taiheiyo Cement has developed Nanoritia, a lithium manganese iron phosphate salt for use as a positive electrode material for lithium-ion batteries. The company says that the product has ‘excellent’ thermal stability and does not contain cobalt or nickel, which can sometimes be harder to source. As a result of the success, it will establish a 100t/yr nanoritia plant at its Central Research Laboratory in Sakura city, Chiba prefecture.

The group said, “We will proactively and swiftly develop and commercialise the production technology of this product, and contribute to the reduction of CO₂ emissions through the provision of materials for lithium-ion batteries. We will continue to strongly promote the group's management philosophy of business activities that are in harmony with not only economic development but also consideration for the environment and contribution to society, aiming to play a leading role in opening up a sustainable future for the earth.”

The cement and minerals producer has also been working on recycling large lithium-ion batteries at its integrated Tsuruga plant.

US: Charah Solutions will sell and market production fly ash from NV Energy’s North Valmy coal-fired power plant in Valmy, Nevada under a contract with the power producer. The contract runs until 2025. The company will distribute the ash through its 40-location nationwide MultiSource materials network as supplementary cementitious material (SCM) for cement and concrete production.

President and chief executive officer Scott Sewell said, “We are delighted to partner with NV Energy to manage their fly ash marketing needs at Valmy, while supplying our concrete producers with the high-quality material they need.”