August 2025

India: Around 67t of non-recyclable materials collected from the city of Ernakulam have been sent to cement plants as refuse-derived fuel (RDF) for the plant’s processes, according to October 2024 estimates. 36t/day of materials from local bodies and an additional 27t/day from Clean Kerala Company facilities are handed over to cement plants, with private facilities contributing 3.9t. The waste generated in households and commercial establishments was sorted at material collection facilities and resource recovery units managed by local bodies, before being used for energy generation in cement manufacturing. Haritha Karma Sena volunteers manage the collection of non-biodegradable materials from households and shops, directing these materials to nearly 15 cement plants across Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat for co-processing.

Spain: Heidelberg Materials Hispania and Enagás have signed a collaboration agreement for a CO₂ capture, transmission, liquefaction and storage project in Northern Spain. Heidelberg Materials Hispania says that the collaboration will support carbon capture installations at its plants in the region. The partners will now produce a feasibility study and technical designs for CO₂ transmission, liquefaction and storage infrastructure, including the use of Enagás’ existing regasification terminals.

Heidelberg Materials Hispania operates the 1.1Mt/yr Añorga and Arrigorriaga cement plants, both in the Basque Country.

Afghanistan: A joint venture of two local and two China-based companies plans to build a new US$200m, 1Mt/yr-capacity cement plant in Balkh. Afghan state media has reported that the plant will generate 1000 local jobs and reduce the reliance on imports in Northern Afghanistan.

Taiwan: Taiwan Cement Corporation (TCC) and 100 construction firms have together launched the Low Carbon Construction Pioneer Alliance. CNA News has reported that the founding members eliminated 146,000t of CO₂ emissions altogether through their use of reduced-CO₂ building materials since November 2024. This includes despatches of 800,000m³ of Portland limestone cement (PLC) concrete by TCC, with 2.5Mm³ in cumulative orders to date. TCC first launched its PLC in October 2023, touting an emissions reduction of 15% compared to ordinary Portland cement (OPC). It since enlarged the net reduction to 24% through production modifications.

Taiwan Cement chair Zhang Anping said "TCC took the initiative to align with the Global Cement and Concrete Association and released the lowest-carbon PLC concrete in Taiwan. The CO₂ reduction is far greater than the 53% as defined by the government.”

India: Aditya Birla subsidiary UltraTech Cement is reportedly considering issuing bonds worth US$118m. Informist MoneyWire News has reported that the issuance may take place later in November 2024.

India: Aditya Birla plans to expand its production capacity by 28% from 156Mt/yr to 200Mt/yr before 2035. Group chair Kumar Mangalam Birla told the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in New Delhi that scale is key to long-term survival, and that he always aims for his group to be a leader in any given industry in which it operates.

Domain-B News has reported that Birla said "It took the group 36 years to build a 100Mt/yr cement capacity, while it added another 50Mt/yr capacity in five years.”

India: UltraTech Cement has entered a new transport service contract to deploy about 100 electric vehicles for the transportation of 75,000t/month of clinker from its cement plant Dhar Cement Works in Madhya Pradesh to its grinding unit Dhule Cement Works in Maharashtra, 200km away. This expansion aims to reduce CO₂ emissions by 17,000t/yr. The initiative follows a successful pilot launched in January 2024, in which the company deployed five electric trucks for the transport of clinker on this route, as well as the deployment of charging infrastructure and training. UltraTech is evaluating additional routes for further electric truck deployment and plans to conduct another pilot with a similar model. The company aims to increase its electric truck fleet to 500 by June 2025 as part of India's eFAST initiative.

Kazakhstan: International Cement Group has opened its fourth plant, Korcem, increasing its capacity by 38% to 5.5Mt/yr. The US$153m investment aims to support the growing construction demands in Central Asia and is expected to meet rising export demand, especially from Kyrgyzstan.

Fiji: Fijian Holdings (FHL) plans to construct a new cement plant within the next two to three years in Lami, replacing the current facility which began operations in 1962. According to CEO Jaoji Koroi, the existing plant, operated by subsidiary Pacific Cement, has faced issues with machine breakdowns, which have affected production and profitability. In 2023, damaged machine parts forced the plant to close down for two months. The proposed new plant reportedly aims to produce more ‘environmentally-friendly’ products. The announcement follows a year where Pacific Cement saw reduced sales due to price controls and outdated equipment.

North Macedonia: Titan Usje will invest €20m over the next three years to modernise its operations, focusing on digitalisation and new technologies. Since 2019, the company has invested over €6m in digitisation and artificial intelligence solutions. The system is being rolled out across all Titan plants and is designed to maximise production efficiency, reduce energy use by over 10% and improve product quality, while cutting CO₂ emissions.