UK: A consortium led by Australia-based First Graphene dedicated to developing graphene-enhanced cement has won Euro228,000 in UK government funding. Innovation agency Innovation UK selected the consortium for its work’s potential to contribute towards cement and concrete’s carbon footprint reduction of 25% by 2030. UK-based Breedon Cement represents the cement industry within the consortium.

China: Jiangxi Wannianqing Cement and the administration of Qingyuan District in Jiangxi Province have signed a strategic framework cooperative agreement. Reuters has reported that the agreement sets out ways in which the partners can advance green building materials use in public procurement, in line with the Jiangxi provincial government’s District Revitalisation and Development plant.

Ivory Coast: Société de Ciment de Côte d’Ivoire has inaugurated its second grinding plant in Abidjan. The producer says that the new facility doubles its installed cement production capacity to 3Mt/yr. The Afrique Sur 7 newspaper has reported that it will create 3000 new direct and indirect jobs.

UAE: Shree Global has agreed to acquire a further 40% stake in Union Cement Norcem for US$3.95m. The deal will increase Shree Global’s stake in the company to 100%. It is expected to complete the transaction by the end of June 2022. Union Cement Norcem markets and sells oil well cement, while Shree Global’s parent company, India-based Shree Cement, operates a 4.8Mt/yr cement plant at Ras Khaimah.

US: The Portland Cement Association (PCA) has responded positively to a raft of new measures launched by President Joe Biden to aid industrial decarbonisation. The new measures include: US$8bn investment in regional clean hydrogen hubs and a further US$1.5bn investment in associated initiatives; new carbon-based trade policies; greater incentivisation for carbon capture, utilisation and sequestration (CCUS) projects; and the launch of a Buy Clean Taskforce for government procurement and two interdisciplinary industrial advisory bodies to support research and innovation.

PCA chief executive officer and president Michael Ireland said “We are pleased to see our thinking reflected in many of the actions proposed today. We are delighted the White House has recognised that carbon reductions cannot be achieved via a single industry in isolation: it requires collaboration across an entire value chain.” He said that the White House’s approach aligns with the organisation’s own in its lifecycle approach to evaluating construction materials, encouraging collaboration, engaging the workforce and incentivising private sector innovation. Ireland continued "We look forward to working together with the White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy and the Council on Environmental Quality on this vital initiative.”

Uruguay: Workers at Administación Nacional de Combustibles, Alcohol y Portland’s (ANCAP) Paysandú and Minas cement plants held two days of strikes without warning in early February 2022. The La República newspaper has reported that the Single National Union of Construction and Annexes (SUNCA) called the action to put pressure on the producer not to sell the businesses to private investors. The potential buyers are reportedly planning to visit the plants.

Colombia: Cementos Argos has announced the launch of its new modular concrete solutions subsidiary Soluciones Modulares Argos. The company will produce precast concrete elements for use in housing and infrastructure construction. It aims to build 500 new homes in the second half 2022 and says that its products will halve building times.

Cementos Argos Colombia regional vice president Carlos Horacio Yustysaid "Modular concrete solutions revolutionise the execution of traditional structures and constitute a disruptive bet in construction systems technology."

France: Vicat says it offset rising energy costs by raising its prices in 2021. It reported growth in most places as markets recovered from the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. It also noted a particular improvement in Egypt as government-mandated changes came into force in July 2021. The group’s consolidated sales rose by 11.3% year-on-year to Euro3.12bn in 2021 from Euro2.81bn in 2020. Cement and concrete volumes increased by 12.4% to 28.1Mt and 12.5% to 10.5Mm³ respectively. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 11.1% to Euro619m from Euro557m.

“Conditions in our markets remained dynamic, supported by favourable pricing trends in a context of sustained demand. This offsets the sharp rise in energy costs and wage increases,” said Vicat group chairman Guy Sidos.

Australia: Boral’s earnings in the first half of its financial year have fallen as it has completed the sales of its North American fly ash business. Its revenue from continuing operations fell slightly to US$1.08bn in the six months to 31 December 2021. However, its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for continuing operations dropped by 16% to US$138m from US$164m in the same period in 2020. Cement and concrete sales volumes remained stable and rose slightly respectively.

“With the completion of the divestment of our North American Fly Ash business on 11 February 2022, we have now finalised the strategic realignment of our portfolio to focus on our Australian construction materials business,” said Boral’s chief executive officer Zlatko Todorcevski. “We are focused on building a more competitive and profitable business that is positioned for success and delivers increased returns to shareholders.” He blamed falling earnings on construction shutdowns and growing energy prices despite changes to the business.

Mexico: Cemex says that it will invest a total of US$1.3bn in its business in 2022. US$600m will go towards strategic growth, according to the company.

Chief executive officer Fernando Gondzález said "Overall in 2022, we anticipate a favourable environment with more moderate volume growth in most markets and solid pricing dynamics reflecting high capacity utilisation and input cost iteration. Finally, our objective is to recover margins in line with our goal of operational resilience with our pricing strategy.” He continued "Today, we are very prepared to handle the inflationary change. We have reflected cost pressures in our regular 2022 price announcements scheduled for January and April. We are also assuming that inflation is not transitory and are prepared to respond quickly to changes in the environment."