02 June 2021

Sweden: Germany-based HeidelbergCement subsidiary Cementa plans to upgrade its Slite unit in Gotland to become the world’s first carbon-neutral cement plant. This will be achieved through modification of the plant’s fuel system to ‘significantly raise’ biobased fuel substitution, as well as 100% carbon capture and storage (CCS) via a 1.8Mt/yr CCS installation. Full-scale capturing of the plant’s CO₂ emissions is scheduled by 2030.

Chair Dominik von Achten said, “HeidelbergCement will be the leader in the global cement industry on its transformation path towards climate neutrality. The key for decarbonising our industry is to find, apply and scale technical solutions for carbon capture and utilisation or storage (CCU/S). After having gained valuable experience with CCU/S technologies in Norway and other countries, we are now excited to make the next step with a completely carbon-neutral cement plant in Sweden.”

Iran: Abyek Cement Complex has relaunched a 8500t/day production line at its plant in Abyek, Qazvin province following repairs. Alireza Razm Hosseini, head of the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade, attended the event. The production line is the largest in the country, according to the ministry. Cement produced at the plant will be exported.

The Tehran Times newspaper has reported that the relaunch brings the total national capacity to 80Mt/yr across 74 plants. Domestic demand was 70Mt in the 2021 financial year, which ended on 21 March 2021.

Iran: Hashem Nezamabadi, the managing director of Kaveh Pars Mining Industries Development Company, says that the Mostazafan Foundation and its subsidiaries have started production of oil well cement. Subsequently the country will no longer need to import this type of cement, according to the Trend News Agency. The specialist cement will be used to support the country’s oil industry.

Canada: The Cement Association of Canada (CAC) and the government have published a joint statement detailing their plant to develop a roadmap to net-zero carbon concrete. When launched in December 2021, the roadmap will provide Canadian cement producers with the policies, tools and technologies to contribute to the achievement of net-zero concrete by 2050. The plans will cover areas including: supporting the low-emissions building materials supply chain, building an innovative opportunities framework and engaging stakeholders. According to the statement, the roadmap will offer total potential CO₂ reduction of 15Mt by 2030, and 4.0Mt/yr thereafter.

The partnership will establish a CAC-led Industry-Government Working Group in collaboration with the National Research Council the Standards Council of Canada and Innovation, Science and Economic Development. Among its tasks will be the publication of updated environmental product declarations.

Puerto Rico: Colombia-based Grupo Argos subsidiary Cementos Argos has combined the distribution capacities of its Dorado and San Juan cement terminals at the Dorado site. It recently upgraded the terminal with a new mixing system and 3000 bags/hr packaging system, up by 100% from 1500 bags/hr previously. New sensors have improved safety, while efficiency and reliability have both also increased. The company said that the consolidation has enabled it to expand its portfolio of products on offer at the major Caribbean hub.

Caribbean and Central America regional vice president Camilo Restrepo said, “At Argos, we ensure the high reputation Argos Colombia is maintained wherever we go. We are convinced that this transformation in Puerto Rico will only serve to benefit our clients. We have the assets, the capabilities, the talent and all the passion to satisfy the island's needs, all while strengthening our export vocation in the Caribbean, making this operation an important commercial maritime hub.”

Brazil/Turkey: Brazil-based Votorantim Cimentos has implemented artificial intelligence techniques for cement strength testing across 27 of its laboratories in Brazil and Turkey. The producer says that the technology gives precise cement strength readings after just three days, compared to 28 days without the technology. It also uses a new metric, technical efficiency, to measure cement’s performance in concrete from the customer’s point of view. The implementation has increased available test results by 200% and eliminated 119 hours of testing time in Brazil alone for the company. It says that this has increased its agility in dealing with quality control and customer satisfaction.

The company said, “We at Votorantim Cimentos want to pave the way for the future of civil construction in a simple, agile and sustainable way, strengthening our role at the construction site, working to be the first choice of retailers and consolidating ourselves as a reference in sustainability in the value chain. Therefore, we look at our research and development projects as short, medium and long-term initiatives to leverage innovations in the sector. Many initiatives are aimed at optimising internal processes that impact the performance of our products, such as those involving the use of artificial intelligence to develop applications and predictive models. In addition, based on models for predicting the properties of cements, we have already created others for use in our mortars and concretes."

Colombia: Grupo Argos has formed an alliance with five other Colombian companies to boost the number of women and young people in work. The alliance will focus on creating sustainable and competitive job opportunities. The participants say that they will jointly offer 6000 mentorship places. Youth and female unemployment respectively rose to 25% and 31% nationally during the on-going Covid-19 outbreak. Grupo Argos said that it is part of its corporate social responsibility to take action to create quality work.