August 2025

Ghana: Carlos Ahenkorah, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, says that government is considering a temporary block on imports on cement. However, he added the catch that it would only do this if local producers could ensure ‘fair’ pricing, according to the News Statesman newspaper. He made the comments at an award dinner organised by CIMAF.

Mexico: Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua (GCC) says it will commit to setting greenhouse gas reduction targets in line with climate science by joining the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTI). GCC will set science-based emission reduction targets in line with the level of decarbonisation required to keep global temperature increase well-below 2°C compared to pre-industrial temperatures, as described in the latest Special Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

“By joining the SBTI, GCC will ensure that the company´s low-carbon transformation is aligned with climate science and is a further reflection of our unwavering commitment to implement global best practices related to sustainability,” said Enrique Escalante, GCC´s chief executive officer (CEO).

US: RHI Magnesita has acquired Missouri Refractories for an undisclosed sum. The refractory producer operates a plant at Pevely, Missouri. It produces over 400 high-quality monolithic mixes, which serve industries, including cement, lime, steel and glass.

“With its more than 45 years of experience in fulfilling the needs of demanding, highly loyal and satisfied customers, Missouri Refractories perfectly fits into RHI Magnesita’s strategy to strengthen our position in the North American refractory market,” said Stefan Borgas, chief executive officer (CEO) of RHI Magnesita.

Thailand: Siam Cement (SCG) has recorded a profit of US$2.64bn in 2019, down by 13% year-on-year from US$3.05bn in 2018. Revenue fell by 8.5% to US$14.1bn from US$15.4bn.

India: Birla Corporation has recorded a profit of US$11.3m in the three months ending 31 December 2019 - the third quarter of the Indian fiscal year: up by 200% from US$3.77m in the corresponding quarter of 2018. Revenues in the period rose by 11% to US$243m from US$219m.

Birla Corporation has also announced plans for a 3.9Mt/yr integrated grinding plant in Mukutban, Maharashtra, as well as upgrades further increasing both its integrated and grinding capacities.

India: Ramco Cements’ profit in the three months to 31 December 2019 was US$13.3m, down by 6.3% year-on-year from US$14.2m. Revenues in the period rose by 5.3% to US$180m from US$171m. Sales volumes grew by 3.7% year-on-year to 28Mt from 27Mt.

A 100% capacity expansion of Ramco Cements’ 1.0Mt/yr Kolaghat grinding plant in West Bengal to 2.0Mt/yr, which begun in September 2019, is scheduled for completion in 2020.

UK: CemFree cement-free concrete has been applied volumetrically for the first time in a 52m3 repair to the Woodford West Viaduct on the M25 London ordbital motorway in Essex. The reason behind the choice of method was the unavailability of batching plants at night, which was the only time that a team of Jackson, DB Group and Axtell employees working on behalf of Connect Plus were permitted to perform the work on the UK’s busiest road. CemFree said that 9.4t of CO2 emissions were cut by comparison to the same project undertaken with ordinary Portland cement (OPC). Jackson director of highways Paul Watson said, “We hope this marks a turning point on the M25 and the wider Highways sector for using low carbon alternatives.”

Cemfree uses 95% ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) and a 5% alkali activator, removing the need for cement. This gave CO2 emissions of 114kg/t, which the company says is 77% lower than conventional (OPC).

India: 13 employees of Jammu and Kashmir Cements Limited (J&K Cements) have been suspended following an incident in which J&K Cements managing director Ishtiyaq Drabu was locked inside the 0.4Mt/yr J&K Cements Khrew plant, where he says he was ‘held hostage and threatened.’ In a charge sheet against the employees, he further alleged that they had ‘left their place of duty unauthorised’ in order to assemble at the main gate, where the trap was sprung. The Daily Excelsior newspaper has reported that the action was taken by the employees in order to demand payment of their salaries. “The intervention of the police saved my life,” said Drabu.

550 J&K Cements employees have not received wages since December 2018 and US$3.91m is missing from the state-owned producer’s pension fund. Drabu has been able to draw his salary every month since his appointment in January 2019.

If you needed a sign that the cement industry has become serious about carbon capture it was the presence of two organisations offering CO₂ transport and storage capacity in northern Europe at last week’s Innovation in Industrial Carbon Capture Conference 2020 (IICCC). Both Norway’s Northern Lights and the Rotterdam CCUS (Project Porthos) were busy at their stands during the event’s exhibition. Meanwhile, Cembureau, the European Cement Association, said that it will work on finding other potential storage sites for CO₂ and on identifying existing gas pipelines that could be converted. The industry is planning what to do about CO₂ transport and storage.

As with the previous IICCC event in 2018 the heart of the programme was the Low Emissions Intensity Lime And Cement (LEILAC) project. Since then Calix’s 60m tall pilot Direct Separation Calciner unit has been built at the HeidelbergCement cement plant in Lixhe and has been tested since mid-2019. Early results look promising, with CO₂ separation occurring, calcined material produced and the tube structure and mechanical expansion holding up. Problems with thermocouples failing, blockages and recarbonation at the base of the tube have been encountered but these are being tackled in the de-bottlenecking phase. Testing will continue well into 2020 and plans for the next demonstration project at another cement plant in Europe are already moving ahead. LEILAC 2 will see industry partners Cimpor, Lhoist, Port of Rotterdam and IKN join Calix, HeidelbergCement and other research partners to work together on a larger 0.1Mt/yr CO₂ separation pilot scheduled for completion in 2025.

Alongside this HeidelbergCement presented a convincing vision of a carbon neutral future for the cement industry at the IICCC 2020. It may not be what actually happens but the building materials producer has a clear plan across the lifecycle chain of cement. It is researching and testing a variety of methods to capture CO₂ process emissions, is looking at supply chains and storage sites for the CO₂ and is working on recycling concrete as aggregates and cementations material via recarbonation. In terms of carbon capture technology, an amine-based industrial scale CCS unit looks likely to be built at Norcem’s Brevik plant in the early 2020s. HeidelbergCement’s other joint-research projects – direct separation and oxyfuel – are further behind, at the pilot and pre-pilot stages respectively. Each technology looks set to offer progressively better and cheaper CO₂ capture as they come on line.

Or put another way, cement companies in Europe could build industrial scale amine-based carbon (CC) capture plants now. Yet the game appears to be to wait until the cost of CCS falls through new technology versus the rising emissions trading scheme (ETS) price of CO₂. CC is expected to become economically feasible in a decade’s time, sometime in the 2030s. At which point there might be an upgrade boom as plants are retrofitted with CC units or new production lines are commissioned. Other ways of reducing the cement industry’s CO₂ emissions, of course, are being explored by other companies such as further reducing the clinker factor through the use of calcined clays (LC3 and others), solar reactor or electric-powered kilns and more.

The usual problem of how the construction industry can cope with a higher cost of cement was acknowledged at IICCC 2020 but it is largely being worked around. Higher priced cement poses competitive issues for specifiers and construction companies but it is widely expected to result in price rises below 5% for most residential end users. In the short-term government policy such as requiring low carbon cement in state building projects could stimulate the market. The start of this process can be seen already with the use of slag cements in various infrastructure projects.

Hans Bergman, Head Unit ETS Policy Development at the Directorate-General for Climate Action (DG Clima) partly addressed the cost issue by talking about the EU Green Deal. The EU wants to meet its new targets but it also wants to let gross domestic product (GDP) rise whilst greenhouse emissions fall. The EU ETS is its principle vehicle for this but the commission is wary of changes, such as making modifications linked to CCS, in case it undermines the system. Discussions are ongoing as the work on the Green Deal continues.

IICCC was a wider forum beyond just what LEILAC is up to. To this extent the CC projects involve multiple partners, including those from other cement companies like Cemex and Tarmac (CRH) in LEILAC and Dyckerhoff (Buzzi Unicem), Schwenk Zement and Vicat in the oxyfuel project. The decarbonisation fair included representatives from Vicat’s FastCarb project and Polimi’s Cleanker. Speakers from the European Climate Foundation, Acatech, INEA, TCM, SINTEF and Lhoist were also present.

During one speaker discussion Calix was described as the 'Tesla' of industrial CC by one speaker, who said that, “…there is a genuine competitive opportunity for those bold enough to grasp it.” Calix’s managing director Phil Hodgson enjoyed the accolade but the point was that leading innovation or setting the agenda offers advantages. In the case of industrial CC for the cement industry, change feels a step closer.

Saudi Arabia: Tabuk Cement has appointed Saoud Bin Solaiman Al-Juhni as the chairman of its board of directors. Abdulaziz Bin Abdelrahman Alkhamis has been appointed as the deputy chairman and the cement producer has also announcement the composition of its executive and audit committees.