Brazil: Cimento Gaúcho has inaugurated its 400,000t/yr Montenegro grinding plant in Rio Grande do Sul. The producer invested US$20.4m in the facility, which will initially produce 100,000t/yr of cement. Besides the local market, Cimento Gaúcho also plans to supply cement from the Montenegro grinding plant to Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. The El Pais newspaper has reported that the plant will create 30 direct jobs, and a further 120 indirect jobs.

Cimento Gaúcho is a joint venture of Hipermix and Uruguay-based Compañía Industrializadora de Minerales.

Mexico: Cemex Mexico subsitituted 36% of it cement fuel with alternative fuel (AF) in 2022. This exceeds the Mexican cement industry’s target for 2030, of 32%. Mexico Business News has reported that the producer used 1.05Mt of AF across its operations. This reduced its CO₂ emissions by 1.8Mt, and prevented 850,000t of methane emissions from being generated in landfill. Cemex Mexico’s Huichapan cement plant in Hidalgo set the company record for the year, with 207,000t of AF co-processed in its cement production. It produced 3.2Mt of cement for the Bajio, Central, Central-North, Laguna and Southeast Mexico markets.

Sustainability Manager Carlos Medina said "Last year’s results motivate us to intensify our efforts and uphold good practices that benefit communities and the environment. We will keep promoting environmentally friendly solutions in all our operations, as we are convinced that all social actors must collaborate to lay the foundations for a better future."

India: Adani Group recorded earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of US$2.85bn in the first quarter of the 2024 financial year, up by 42% year-on-year. The conglomerate’s cement business contributed an EBITDA of US$235m, up by 54% year-on-year. This represented 8.2% of the quarterly total. The group sold 15.4Mt of cement.

Financial Express Online News has reported that Adani Group said “The robust portfolio performance was primarily driven by the renewable power business under Adani Green, the infrastructure businesses under Adani Enterprises and the cement businesses under Adani Cement.”

US/Colombia: Colombia-based Cementos Argos is carrying out expansions to two cement plants in South Carolina and West Virginia. While not specifically named, these would appear to be the 1.1Mt/yr Harleyville and 1.8Mt/yr Martinsburg cement plants. The producer says that the expansions will increase its cement capacity in the eastern US by 450,000t/yr.

Additionally, Cementos Argos plans to expand the capacity of its Cartagena cement terminal in Colombia by 35% to 4Mt/yr. The producer says that this will serve as a platform for subsequent growth. It is targeting the US market, where an expansion is also underway at its import facility in Houston, Texas. The Cartagena terminal achieved its current capacity following a recent US$42m expansion.

Turkmenistan: State-owned Turkmencement has successfully carried out an upgrade to its 1Mt/yr Lebap cement plant at Koytendag. The upgrade involves the installation of a new 3000t/day kiln line, supplied by Germany-based thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions. The producer first announced the project in mid-2020, and ordered the new line in mid-2021.

In 2022, the Lebap cement plant produced 1.1Mt of cement, up by 11% year-on-year from 991,000t in 2021.

China: Xinjiang Tianshan Cement recorded a profit of US$19.5m during the first half of 2023, Reuters has reported. This corresponds to a 96% decline from first-half 2022 levels.

India: Ambuja Cements’ open offer to acquire an additional 26% stake in Sanghi Industries will run from 29 September 2023 to 13 October 2023. Press Trust of India News has reported the value of shares under the offer as up to US$767m. Ambuja Cements concluded a deal to acquire a 57% stake in Sanghi Industries, for the smaller sum of US$603m, on 3 August 2023.

China: Jiangxi Wannianqing Cement recorded a profit of US$36.6m during the first half of 2023, Reuters has reported. This corresponds to a year-on-year decline of 46%.

Saudi Arabia: Hail Cement recorded sales of US$32.4m during the first half of 2023, down by 26% year-on-year. Mubasher News has reported that the producer recorded a net profit of US$6.53m over the six-month period, compared to a first-half loss of US$3.66m one year previously.

Pakistan: Cement producers in Northern Pakistan have reported a 13% drop in the price of coal to US$126/t. The Pakistan Today newspaper has reported that this is due to the Afghan government lowering taxes on exports of coal from Afghanistan. The Taliban reduced its royalties on coal exports by 12% to US$30/t. Meanwhile, it reduced customs duties on coal exports by 33%, also to US$30/t.

Northern Pakistan is comprised of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab. In 2022, regional cement plants were over 70% reliant on Afghan coal. That year, they paid coal prices of US$170 – 200/t.