Japan: Taiheiyo Cement has obtained a Transition-Linked Loan, the first of its kind in the Japanese cement industry. The loan employs sustainability performance targets (SPTs) based on the company's 2030 interim sustainability targets and 2050 Carbon Neutral Strategy. The former consists in a 40% reduction in its total CO₂ emissions, including Scope 3, and a 20% reduction in its Scope 1 and 2 CO₂ emissions, between 2000 and 2030.

Afghanistan: Ghori Cement says that its Baghlan cement plants currently produce 600t/day of cement, corresponding to annual production of 0.22Mt/yr. The producer states that production is restricted by shortages of electricity and vehicles. With regular supply of these, it would increase its production by 33% to 800t/day (0.29Mt/yr), according to the company.

Production at the Baghlan cement plants was previously suspended for four months in mid-2022 due to high coal prices. This was resolved when the government began supplying the plants with coal at a pre-agreed price. The plants then reopened with a daily production of 520t/day (0.19Mt/yr), up by 49% from 350t/yr (0.13Mt/yr).

The provincial government said that an upgrade with equipment from China and Iran since increased production by 15% to its present 600t/day (0.22Mt/yr).

France: Ratings agency EthiFinance has certified Hoffmann Green Cement Technologies' operations as 100% in the line with the EU's Green Taxonomy. The Green Taxonomy measures the sustainability of companies' activities against the European Green Deal's objective of net zero by 2050.

Hoffmann Green Cement Technologies said that it is Europe's first cement producer to achieve the recognition of conformity.

India: Adani Group told investors that it repaid a US$500m bridge loan for its acquisition of ACC and Ambuja Cements on 7 March 2023. The deal was completed in September 2022, and payment on the loan was due by 9 March 2023 at the latest. UK-based Barclays and Standard Chartered and Germany-based Deutsche Bank underwrote the loan.

Business Today Online News has reported that Adani Group is seeking to pre-pay its loans in order to allay investor concerns about its debt.

India: India's 'core industries,' including cement, steel and fossil fuels, employ just 8% women across the total workforce. The Free Press Journal has reported that gender equality body UN Women found the proportion of women to be as low as 3.9% at UltraTech Cement. JSW Cement owner JSW Group employs 5.3% women. Meanwhile, Holcim, which left the Indian market in September 2022, operates with a 13% female global workforce.

Cement companies joined in celebrations of International Women's Day on 8 March 2023.

Mozambique: Dugongo Cimentos plans to build a US$192m, 6000t/day cement plant at Nacala-Porto in Nampula Province. The Macao News has reported that the producer expects the plant to create 600 new jobs locally.

Dugongo Cimentos previously inaugurated its 2500t/day Matutuine cement and clinker plant in Maputo Province following a total investment of US$330m in 2021. The company is jointly owned by state-owned SPI Gestão e Investimentos and China-based West International Holding.

Cyprus: Vassiliko Cement has secured environmental clearance to build a new alternative fuel (AF) store at its Vassiliko cement plant in Nicosia. Philenews has reported that the facility will replace the site’s former AF store, which burned down in a fire started by a mobile shredder in June 2022.

India: JK Cement has secured regulatory approval to merge its subsidiary Jaykaycem (Central) into itself. The Free Press Journal newspaper has reported that the Allahabad bench of the National Company Law Tribunal granted the approval on 6 March 2023.

World: The United Nations (UN) has reviewed the progress of initiatives towards the reduction of mercury emissions from cement and other industries under its Environment Programme (UNEP). Mercury is sometimes present in the raw materials and fuel used in cement production. The sector currently emits 2220t/yr of mercury, 11% of global anthropogenic mercury emissions. The UNEP’s Cement Partnership Area aims to ensure ‘globally significant’ emissions reductions. Its priority actions include: establishing sectoral mercury inventories and baseline scenarios, encouraging techniques for the minimisation of mercury releases, increasing awareness in the industry, governments and regulatory bodies and supporting the development of policies in line with the Minamata Convention on Mercury.

The Cement Partnership Area said that it has achieved progress in expanding its cement plant mercury emissions management knowledge base and in reducing emissions. It called on governments to increase funding for projects, the development of new technologies and the publication of guidance documents.

US: SLB has launched EcoShield, a geopolymer-based well cement product. The company, also known as Schlumberger, says that the product cuts out up to 85% of embodied CO₂ emissions compared with conventional well cementing systems because it does not use ordinary Portland cement (OPC). It also reduces transport related emissions by using locally-sourced natural materials and industrial waste streams in its composition. The company says that the cement-free system can be deployed throughout various phases of the well life cycle, including abandonment. It can also be deployed across a range of field applications, including corrosive environments.

Jesus Lamas, SLB’s president of Well Construction, said “Decarbonising the well construction process while ensuring safety and performance standards is critical to our industry’s pathway to net zero.” He added “The cement-free EcoShield system is a breakthrough that delivers industry-standard zonal isolation capabilities while significantly minimising impacts from upstream oil and gas production.”

EcoShield has been tested by Pioneer Natural Resources in the Permian Basin on an 18-well field testing campaign and its use is ongoing.