04 March 2025

US: California Resources Corporation and its carbon management subsidiary, Carbon TerraVault (CTV), have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with National Cement Company of California to develop the ‘Lebec Net Zero’ project, which will produce carbon-neutral cement at National Cement’s Lebec facility in Kern County, California.

CTV will provide transportation and sequestration solutions for up to 1Mt/yr of CO₂ emissions captured from the Lebec plant. The captured CO₂ will be transported and stored in CTV’s underground storage reservoirs. The project will integrate carbon capture technology, use locally sourced biomass fuel from agricultural byproducts and produce limestone calcined clay cement (LC3).

Pending customary approvals, operations are expected to commence in 2031.

India: UltraTech Cement has projected that India’s cement demand will surpass 640Mt by the 2030 financial year, driven by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7-8% between the 2024 and 2030 financial years.

According to industry research and estimates, cement demand for the financial year ending 31 March 2024 stood at 424Mt. The growth is expected to be supported by rising infrastructure development and construction activity across the country.

Pakistan: Total cement despatches in February 2025 reached 3.6Mt, marking a 10% increase from 3.27Mt in February 2024, according to data released by the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA).

Domestic cement sales rose by 7% year-on-year to 3.1Mt, compared to 2.9Mt in February 2024. However, growth remained below expectations following a 12% month-on-month increase in January 2025. Exports increased by 34%, rising to 0.53Mt from 0.4Mt in the same month last year. In the first eight months of the current financial year, total cement despatches, including domestic and exports, stood at 30.4Mt, a slight 0.45% decline from 30.6Mt in the previous year. Domestic despatches dropped by 6% year-on-year to 24.5Mt, while exports increased by 32% to 5.9Mt from 4.5Mt.

Philippines: The Surigao City government has expressed optimism that the planned reopening of Pacific Cement Corporation (Pacemco) will revitalise the local economy and create jobs. Pacemco ceased operations on 5 May 2014 due to financial and operational difficulties. According to the Philippines News Agency, it owed US$1.5m to the Surigao del Norte Electric Cooperative, therefore its power supply was cut. At the time, 343 workers were reportedly placed on forced leave after the company stopped operations.

The mayor of Surigao City, along with other officials, conducted an inspection of the facility and groundbreaking activities are scheduled later in March 2025.

Georgia: The government has raised the mineral extraction limit for Georgian Cement, amending the company’s mining license under a decree issued on 28 February 2025. The revised limit now allows for the extraction of 718,415m³ of sand and gravel from the Lezhbadin mineral deposit in Khanji-Gazlo, Marneuli Municipality, until the license expires on 24 October 2025, according to Business Media Georgia. In return for the additional 287,630m³ of extraction, Georgian Cement must pay US$148m to the state budget within the designated period.

Georgian Cement, formerly HeidelbergCement Georgia, rebranded as "New Honeywell Cement" in August 2024 following its acquisition by Honeywell Partners. The company previously operated under the Heidelberg Materials brand, which held a 45% stake before the buyout.