September 2025

Saudi Arabia: Domestic cement sales in November 2020 were 4.8Mt, up by 17% year-on-year from November 2019. Mubasher News has reported that Saudi cement exports fell by 6% to 179,000t from 192,000t. Clinker exports rose by 85% to 490,000t. The national clinker inventory fell for a seventh consecutive month, to 38Mt.

In November 2020 Saudi Arabia produced 5.0Mt of cement and 4.3Mt of clinker.

India: Larsen & Toubro has secured 90 contracts for the supply of Komatsu mining equipment to industrial companies, including various cement producers. The company says that the contracts include 66 orders for Komatsu dump trucks, 15 Komatsu wheel loaders and seven units of Komatsu hydraulic excavators.

Managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) Sekharipuram Narayanan Subrahmanyan said, “We are delighted to receive these orders from our valuable customers, across various sectors, which is a strong indication of the revival taking place in the mining industry, driven by the progressive and supportive policies of the government of India.”

Turkey: Denmark-based FLSmidth has released details about a new clinker production line it is currently supplying to Bursa Çimento. Work at the site is underway at present covering the line from crushing to clinker cooling. The new line is scheduled to start at the end of 2022. FLSmidth says the equipment it is supplying includes a Hotdisc Combustion Device, which will help increase the substitution rate to 86%, the highest in Turkey. The order also includes an OK Raw Mill, a Rotax-2 kiln, Pfister feeders and new air pollution process filters.

"The modernisation of our Bursa site is a strategic investment, providing us with a more competitive cost base,” said Osman Nemli, General Manager at Bursa Çimento. “But just as important is the entire upgrade which focuses on reducing emissions and power consumption. In this way, we are proactively mitigating future possible environmental regulation."

Sri Lanka: Lanwa Sanstha Cement says that its upcoming 2.4Mt/yr Hambantota cement plant is on schedule for commissioning in June 2021. The total investment in this first phase of the project is US$70m. The Daily News newspaper has reported that the second phase of the project will consist of an expansion of the plant’s production capacity to 3.6Mt/yr at an additional cost of US$10m. Germany-based Gebr. Pfeiffer and Siemens have supplied the plant’s production equipment, while Denmark-based FLSmidth is supplying its packaging equipment.

Chair Nandana Lokuwithana said, “This facility will serve to benefit the construction industry tremendously by delivering products of premium quality to the market. The plant is the first of its kind in Sri Lanka to use cutting-edge European technology to yield optimum outcomes while being environmentally conscious through continuous monitoring.”

Russia: Sibirskiy Cement subsidiary Krasnoyarsk Cement says that it has installed a new electrostatic precipitator on Kiln 5 at its Krasnoyarsk cement plant as part of an environmental upgrade project. It spent US$3m on the equipment from Switzerland. It says that it has made ‘a significant contribution’ to the company’s goals under the Clean Air national project. The company has also installed an automatic emission control system at the plant.

The cement producer now plans to upgrade the plant’s primary limestone crushing equipment for US$203,000 and install a new automated measuring system for US$379,000. It has estimated that its full-year cement output in 2020 will increase by 2% year-on-year to 621,000t from 609,000t in 2019.

Tunisia: Six companies filed offers to acquire a majority stake of between 58% and 78% of Carthage Cement’s registered share capital. The group called for expressions of interest on 29 May 2020 and the deadline for receipt of tenders was 4 December 2020. It said, “The list of pre-qualified investors will be communicated once the opening and examination of the offers received have been finalised.”

India: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has raided the offices of LafargeHolcim subsidiaries ACC and Ambuja Cement and Aditya Birla subsidiary UltraTech Cement as part of an investigation into alleged anti-competitive behaviour, according to the Press Trust of India. ACC said it, "is of the firm view that it has acted and continues to act in compliance with competition laws and we are fully cooperating with the investigation and providing all necessary information to the authorities."

France: LafargeHolcim subsidiary Lafarge France has announced a planned upgrade to its 120,000m³/yr Javel concrete plant involving a capacity reduction to 80,000m3/yr. It says that this corresponds to the significant reduction in the production capacity of the future Mirabeau power station and ’the expectations of residents and public authorities.’ The company has described the project as a ‘modernisation’ and from 2023 it will see at least 50% of its production become low or very-low carbon concrete products.

The producer said, “LafargeHolcim's approach by requesting the withdrawal of the existing authorisation thus consolidates its commitments vis-à-vis the stakeholders in the consultation process. The enforcement of the environmental controls announced by Paris Seine Normandy Ports (HAROPA) will of course be maintained and LafargeHolcim is fully in favour of maintaining the strictest controls on the part of the state services.”

Australia: Germany-based Flender has announced the opening of a new production and testing centre in the Perth suburb of Bayswater, Western Australia. The supplier says that the 3500m² facility is equipped with a 1.5MW load test bench capable of testing complete drive systems up to a voltage of 6.6kV.

Chief executive officer (CEO) and general manager Kareem Emara said, “Our recent growth in Western Australia has been great and a testament to the quality of our products, service and technical know-how. As we continue to grow, we want to reinvest in this key market and be where our customers are to offer them the combined brains trust of over 50 facilities worldwide through this new state-of-the-art centre.”

Nigeria: LafargeHolcim subsidiary Lafarge Africa has launched a national essay competition entitled “Building the Nigeria of My Dreams.” The competition is open to all primary and secondary school pupils. The producer says that it ’further affirms the company’s commitment to bridging the literacy gap in Nigeria.’ It said, “This will help improve literacy amongst young adults and also engender loyalty to the nation as they will write about their hopes and aspirations of the Nigerian nation they desire. The online essay competition aligns with reports that show that citizens do much better when they are literate as they become equipped to become better adults and even more successful in their careers.”

Chief executive officer (CEO) Khaled El-Dokani said, "We recognise that the depth and quality of a country’s human capital are as important as its physical infrastructure, hence our investment over the past seven years in enhancing the Nigerian educational sector just as we are committed to empowering Nigerians through our world class building solutions.” He continued, “One of our key sustainability priorities at Lafarge Africa is our commitment to our communities through education and we are actively collaborating with the government and the private sector to improve the country's literacy ratio towards making an impact in reducing the World Bank estimate which states that over 80% of Nigerian primary school leavers cannot read.”

Communications, public affairs and sustainable development director Folashade Ambrose-Medebem said, “We have so far impacted more than 700,000 primary school pupils in 1665 schools across 544 local government areas (LGAs). Our volunteers, who are employees of Lafarge Africa have spent over 6212hr with over 250 public primary students. This crucial involvement shows our genuine concerns about Nigeria’s literacy gap and commitment towards bridging that gap.”