09 August 2021

India: Orient Cement plans to invest US$215m to increase the production capacity of its 7.5Mt/yr Devapur, Telangana, cement plant to 11.5Mt/yr, according to the Hindustan Times newspaper. The company previously expanded the plant’s capacity from 3.0Mt/yr at a cost of US$290m in 2019.

India: Ramco Cements plans to invest US$80.8m in future upgrades to its cement plants before 30 March 2022. In the first quarter of the 2022 financial year, which begun on 1 April 2021, the company invested US$53.9m in upgrades. The Hindustan Times newspaper has reported that realisation of its spending plan would bring the producer’s total upgrade investments for the 2022 financial year to US$135m.

India: The board of directors of Prism Johnson will consider a proposal to raise funds through issue of secured or unsecured, rated, listed, redeemable, taxable non-convertible debentures (NCDs) on 13 August 2021. Any such issue will take place on a private placement basis.

UK: The Mineral Products Association (MPA) recorded a 1.2% quarter-on-quarter decline in the UK’s total concrete sales volumes in the second quarter of 2021. Volumes rose compared to 2020 levels, but remained lower than those in the second quarter of 2019. Mortar sales volumes recorded a 21% quarter-on-quarter rise, the sharpest since 2012. The association says that this signals the start of new housebuilding activity, as well as a ‘renewed pipeline of works’ in other sectors. It said that it expects demand for core construction materials to remain high for the remainder of 2021, into 2022, with the current construction outlook expected to drive double-digit growth in mineral products sales for the full year of 2021. The MPA anticipates the strongest contribution to come from infrastructure.

Director of Economic Affairs Aurelie Delannoy said “The surge in pent-up demand for materials in recent months, plus declining availability of haulage drivers as well as increasing costs, are causing concerns over future supply capacity, although every effort is being made to mitigate these. Despite challenging circumstances, companies supplying mineral products have on the whole continued to meet the demands, delivering record volumes along the way.”

World: Cemex has launched the conversion of its European, Middle Eastern and African (EMEA) fleet of company cars and vans to hybrid and electric versions. The measure forms part of its Future in Action strategy towards achieving net zero CO₂ emissions.

Supply chain and procurement vice president Graham Russell said “As we accelerate our journey to net zero CO₂, we are committed to addressing all aspects of our CO₂ emissions.” He added “Advances in technology enable us to move efficiently to a cleaner fleet with lower carbon solutions from today.”

UK: An installation consisting of reduced-CO₂ walls made with cement-free materials has won the Royal Horticultural Society’s People’s Choice Award, the Silver judge’s award and a Young Gardener of the Year nomination at the Tatton Park Flower Show in Cheshire. DB Group subsidiary Cemfree supplied its cement-free mortar for the garden’s structure, while PPG subsidiary CCP supplied its cement-free Greenbloc concrete blocks. The installation is the first time both materials have been used in combination.

Commercial manager Adam Gittins said “Finding ways to help the construction industry tackle CO₂ emissions is an important challenge.” He added “Highly visible community projects like this are helping get the word out about climate change.”