06 January 2022

Pakistan: Fauji Cement has taken out a loan of US$212m from a consortium lead by Habib Bank Limited. The Business Recorder newspaper has reported that the funding will go towards cement plant expansion projects with a total cost of US$339m. Fauji Cement plans to expand its plant in Dera Ghazi Khan, Punjab, while its subsidiary Askari Cement plans to expand its plant in Nizampur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The company says that the projects will together increase its installed cement production capacity to 10Mt/yr.

Spain: LafargeHolcim España has announced the launch of a joint venture called ECCO2 with Carbon Clean and Sistemas de Calor. The joint venture will develop carbon capture technology for use at the producer’s Carboneras cement plant in Almería. It will then seek to market captured CO₂ from the plant for use as a gas in local agricultural greenhouses. When commissioned in early 2023, the carbon capture system will have the capacity to capture 10% of the Carboneras plant’s CO2 emissions.

Switzerland/Germany: Holcim has announced the launch of a strategic partnership with inductive charging technology developer Magment to test and commercialise magnetisable concrete technology for use in roads. The technology will power and charge electric vehicles as they drive on roads fitted with Magment. Another possible application is in industrial floors, to charge robots and forklifts.

Holcim’s Global Innovation Center head Edelio Bermejo said: “At Holcim we are innovating to put concrete at the centre of our world’s transition to net-zero. With Magment, we are excited to be developing concrete solutions to accelerate electric mobility. Partnering with start-ups all over the world, we are constantly pushing the boundaries of innovation to lead the way in sustainability.”

Oman: The German University of Technology in Oman (GUTech) has 3D printed a 190m2 house in Halban, Al Batinah South governorate, using conventional concrete. Trade Arabia News has reported that the structure is the world’s largest 3D printed building. GUTech applied Denmark-based Cobod’s D.fab product to print the building using Mexico-based Cemex’s concrete in five days.

UK: Building materials group Ibstock has announced its commitment to achieving a 40% CO₂ emissions reduction by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2040. The commitment covers scope 1 and 2 emissions, building on the company’s existing sustainability roadmap commitments to create a framework of targets and critical milestones. Ibstock says that these will include investment in more efficient production processes and in high quality environmental projects to offset residual carbon. Additionally, it plans to develop a strategy to reduce indirect scope 3 CO₂ emissions in 2022. It will publish full details of all targets in its 2021 full-year results in March 2022.

During 2021, Ibstock invested Euro138m in the construction of two net zero facilities in West Midlands and West Yorkshire and procured 100% of its electricity from renewable sources. Ibstock is the parent company of Ibstock Concrete, which produces concrete roofing, walling, flooring and lintels at 14 sites across the UK.