Switzerland: Holcim has successfully issued two sustainability-linked bonds worth US$355m and US$109m in the Swiss market. The group says that the issuances are another way in which it keeps climate action at the heart of its financing strategy. It brings the total sum raised by Holcim through sustainable financing agreements to US$7.33bn. Investors will be entitled to a higher coupon if the company does not achieve its climate objective.

Chief finance officer (CFO) Géraldine Picaud said “We are proud to be the first company to launch a sustainability-linked bond on the Swiss franc market. The bond attracted new environmental and social governance investors, demonstrating their confidence in Holcim’s financial strength, strategy and ability to deliver our sustainability targets.”

Austria: W&P cement has launched digital tours of its Peggau, Styria, and Weitersdorf, Carinthia, cement plants using 3D photo technology. Virtual guests can access areas which are closed off during conventional tours, while integrated information points provide them with detailed knowledge. W&P Zement also offers a digital tour of one of its ready-mixed concrete plants in Gratkorn, Styria.

Sales Director Peter Ramskogler said “It was important to us to make our production facilities accessible to everyone. Especially in times of a pandemic, the virtual factory brings even more advantages. In this way, we can at least continue to offer digital tours for schools and universities - regardless of current safety regulations."

The tours may be accessed here.

Guyana: The Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) has confiscated a US$68,300 illegal cannabis shipment from a Panamanian cement carrier ship that was scheduled to depart Port Georgetown on 21 January 2022. CANU says that the value of the substance would have been significantly higher at its destination. It has detained the ship’s captain, engineer and senior officers.

France: Lafarge France has commissioned its Martres cement plant’s new kiln line. China-based Sinoma Construction carried out the work on the plant in Occitanie Region. The supplier said that the new kiln will use 85% alternative fuel (AF), which will cut 163,000t/yr (28%) of its CO₂ emissions. This will reduce its clinker’s carbon footprint by 240kg/t.

Italy: Buzzi Unicem has signed an agreement with Italgas to collaborate on the development of power to gas plants for implementation in combination with carbon capture systems. Their research will assess the possibility of producing and using synthetic methane obtained from the combination of green hydrogen from power to gas plants with captured CO₂.

Buzzi Unicem’s group technical director at Luigi Buzzi said "We are very interested in the opportunity to collaborate with Italgas as an experienced partner to develop a project that is fully integrated into our industrial investment plan aimed at identifying technologies for capturing and reusing the CO₂ released by our plants, in line with the roadmaps defined by industry associations.” He added “Our aim is to responsibly contribute to containing climate change by developing CO₂ capture technologies and identifying the best solutions for its reuse. We are currently experimenting with calcium looping technology for capturing the carbon dioxide released by the production process at our plant in Vernasca, Piacenza. Thanks to the EU Horizon 2020 Cleanker project, it will be possible to assess the technical and economic sustainability of this technology and estimate the changes to the plant and the investments required to adopt this process in existing cement plants.”

Australia: RMIT University in Melbourne, Victoria, has developed a new method of carbon capture, called the bubble column method. The method uses liquid gallium at 100 – 120°C, through which flue gas is bubbled. This activates the CO₂, leading to oxidation of the metal. The captured carbon accumulates on the surface of the pool.

Gallium is a by-product of bauxite and zinc ores mining. The United States Geological Service (USGS) has estimated its global reserves in these ores alone as 1Mt.

Project co-lead Torben Daeneke said “Turning CO₂ into a solid avoids potential issues of leakage and locks it away securely and indefinitely. Because our process does not use very high temperatures, it would be feasible to power the reaction with renewable energy.” He added “Ideally the carbon we make could be turned into a value-added product, contributing to the circular economy and enabling the carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology to pay for itself over time.”

The Australian Government plans to invest US$719m in low emissions technologies by 2050 under its Net Zero Plan.

Kazakhstan: International Cement Group has resumed operations at its Almaty cement plant following its suspension of production due to political unrest.

The group said "To safeguard our employees and plant during the nationwide unrest, the company temporarily closed its cement plant located in the Almaty region of Kazakhstan." It added “As far as business is concerned, everything appears back to normal now, but last week we definitely did not know what was going to happen."

Kyrgyzstan: A new 1.8Mt/yr cement plant is to be built at Tunuk-Suu in Batken region. 10 hectares of land have been set aside for the project, according to local government sources quoted by Central Asia News. The initiative is a joint venture between the authorities and investors. Construction of the plant is scheduled to be complete by early 2024. A 60km road supporting the proposed plant is also being repaired.

Croatia: Volunteers from Cemex collaborated with the Agricultural and Veterans’ Cooperative Lintar and local school pupils to harvest 6.5t of olives from the site of its rehabilitated Split quarry in Split-Dalmatia. The company says that the winter crop produced 900l of olive oil.

Cemex’s Europe, Middle East and Africa corporate affairs, sustainability and environmental resources manangement vice president Andrew Spencer said “We recognise that our industry has consequences for the environment, but Cemex is working hard to actively counteract climate change and this drive is present through all aspects of our business. In our cement and aggregate quarrying operations across Europe, we restore and recultivate our sites to provide optimal conditions that are managed well to deliver for biodiversity.” He added “Our vision is of a successful, sustainable Cemex that makes a positive contribution to people and the environment.”

Japan: Sumitomo Osaka Cement says it plans to raise the price of its cement-related products by 20% in April 2022. It has blamed this on rising raw material, energy and logistics costs.