September 2025

India: UltraTech Cement has raised around US$137m through unsecured redeemable non-convertible debentures (NCD). It has allotted 10,000 NCDs, each worth US$13,700, by private placement. The NCDs will reach maturity on 29 December 2023.

India: Dalmia Cement (Bharat), plans to spend around US$50m on a 2.3Mt/yr upgrade to its Bengal Cement Works plant in West Midnapore. The project will increase the unit’s production capacity to 4Mt/yr. The company says that it will make the cement plant the biggest in the state of West Bengal. It intends to take advantage of expected growth in cement demand, following the coronavirus-related slowdown, due to affordable housing schemes, real estate and infrastructure projects.

“We have deployed the latest machinery and technology for this addition and will be producing only 100% blended cement so as to ensure reduced carbon footprint as part of our commitment to become carbon negative by 2040,” said Ujjwal Batria, chief operating officer (COO) of Dalmia Cement (Bharat).

India: The board of directors of NCL Industries has approved plans for the establishment of two ready-mix plants at a cost of around US$0.8m. The plants will be located in Hyderabad, Telangana and Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. Both projects are scheduled for completion in early 2021. The units will be financed by bank loan.

Bangladesh: The Bangladesh Cement Manufacturers Association (BCMA) has called on the state-owned Bangladesh Bank (BB) to extend an ongoing moratorium period on the payment of loan instalments by another six months to mid-2021 in response to the negative economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The original loan window was schedule to end on 31 December 2020, according to the Dhaka Tribune newspaper. The association has also called for a fixed lending rate for non-government lenders due to rising costs. Local cement sales fell by 13% year-on-year in the five months from January to May 2020 due to a coronavirus-related lockdown that ended in late May 2020.

Georgia: Georgia imported 296,000t cement from Azerbaijan from January to October 2020, a decline of 20.2% year-on-year. Data from the Georgian National Statistics Office (Geostat) and the Trend News Agency also shows that cement imports for this period cost US$14.5m.

China: Companies increased total cement production in the first 11 months of 2020 by 1% year-on-year to 2.16Bnt from 2.14Bnt in the first 11 months of 2019. Xinhua News Agency has reported that estimated total building materials sector operating revenues rose by 1% to US$700bn. The sector’s estimated profit for the period rose by 3% to US$61.9bn.

Pakistan: The government has extended its construction industry fixed tax regime by a further year until 31 December 2021. In a live address to the country, Prime Minister Imran Khan said that the move was in response to ‘big’ demand from the sector, according to the Dawn newspaper. Other incentives unveiled during the broadcast included an exemption for builders from disclosing sources of income to tax authorities until 30 June 2021. The measures follow the government’s introduction of the foreclosure law, under which banks are aiming to allocate US$2.36bn towards house building until 31 December 2021. Khan called 2021 a ‘year of growth.’

France: Vicat started using a CO₂ntainer system supplied by UK-based Carbon8 Systems at its Montalieu-Vercieu cement plant in November 2020. It uses captured CO₂ from the unit’s flue gas emissions to carbonate cement-plant dust and produce aggregate, which can then be used to make products such as concrete. The system has particular relevance for a plant burning alternative fuels due to the additional chlorinated dust created compared to the use of conventional fossil fuels. The company says it is the first European cement producer to use the process at an industrial scale. Previously, Carbon8 Systems said that its CO₂ntainer would process and convert up to 12,000t of cement bypass dust in its first phase of operation.

Vicat Group scientific director Laury Barnes-Davin said, “We were drawn to Carbon8 Systems’ two-part technology: capturing the CO₂ that Montalieu emits, and using it to produce an aggregate that can be marketed in the construction industry. It opens up great potential for our operations not just in France but also in all the countries where we work across the globe.” The group hopes to reach a 100% alternative fuel substitution rate in France by 2024.

Barbados: A worker has died following an accident at Arawak Cement plant in St Lucy. Two employees suffered burns whilst they attempted to fix a blockage at the unit, according to the Caribbean News Agency (CANA). An investigation into the incident is ongoing.

Mexico: Cementos Moctezuma is installing a 10MW solar power plant at its San Luis Potosí cement plant. Forbes Mexico has reported the estimated cost of the project as US$10m. It will consist of between 32,000 and 33,000 panels.

The company said, "The energy generated will be used at the Cerritos de Cementos Moctezuma plant, in order to replace a percentage of the electricity purchased from the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), which is produced with fossil fuels and emits greenhouse gases.” It added that it aims to generate economic savings in the medium term as well as following its sustainability policies.