Germany: Holcim Germany has published environmental reports for 2020 focused on each of its cement plants. The subsidiary of Switzerland-based Holcim has decided to target its reports on local issues by issuing separate reports for each of its four integrated plants in the country, at Beckum, Höver, Lägerdorf and Dotternhausen respectively. Each report covers national developments for the sector and the company. Local data is then included as well as data on connected cement grinding and concrete plants. The reports can be downloaded from Holcim Germany’s website.

Malawi/Zambia: Huaxin Cement says it has completed its acquisition of Lafarge Zambia and Lafarge Cement Malawi. In late December 2021 the Chinese cement producer completed the equity delivery conditions for Lafarge Cement Malawi. This follows a similar process for Lafarge Zambia in late November 2021.

In June 2021 Huaxin Cement said it had agreed to spend US$150m on purchasing a 75% stake in Lafarge Zambia and US$10m on acquiring Pan African Cement from Lafarge Cement Malawi. The former operates two integrated cement plants in Zambia with a combined production capacity of 1.5Mt/yr. The latter operates a 0.25Mt/yr grinding plant at Blantyre in Malawi. Following the completion of the takeover Huaxin Cement now intends to increase its cement grinding capacity in Malawi by 0.25Mt/yr.

Georgia: Cement imports rose by 16% year-on-year to 0.78Mt in the first eleven months of 2021 from 0.68Mt in the same period in 2020. Data from the National Statistics Office of Georgia and the Trend News Agency show that the value of these imports increased to US$40.2m from US$34.6m. Azerbaijan was the leading cement exporting nation to Georgia with a 75% share followed by Turkey with most of the rest. Russia, Greece and Germany have also exported cement to Georgia so far in 2021.

Colombia: Cementos Argos has invested around US$42m on a new terminal in the free trade zone of Cartagena. It is expanding its port infrastructure and tripling the import-export capacity of the site to 3.5Mt/yr. The new terminal, which adds to Argos' existing port facility, from which it exports cement and clinker to the US and other destinations in the Caribbean and Central America, will begin operations in the first quarter of 2022. An official ceremony marking the opening of the terminal will be held in January 2022.

"This new terminal will allow us to substantially increase cement exports to the US, taking advantage of the growing demand for construction materials in that country," said Juan Esteban Calle, the chief executive officer of Cementos Argos.

Spain: Cementos Molins has acquired a 100% stake in precast concrete supplier Pretersa Prenavisa for an undisclosed sum. Molins, through its subsidiary Precon, made the purchase from the European investment group Kartesia. It says the transaction will boost its presence and product mix in the precast concrete market in Spain, Portugal, and France.

Pretersa Prenavisa supplies the engineering, design, manufacture, and assembly of precast concrete structures. Its headquarters is based at Teruel and it operates three production plants at Teruel, Jaen and Segovia. It has around 770 employees and reported a turnover of Euro56m in 2020.

Cementos Molins operates in the precast business in Spain through its subsidiary Precon. It operates ten production plants located throughout Spain. The acquisition of Pretersa Prenavisa is Molins’ fifth in 2021. It follows the takeover of Escofet, a concrete design specialist, the acquisition of a white cement plant in Spain from Çimsa group, the acquisition of Calucem, a calcium aluminate cement producer, and the acquisition of the aggregates and ready-mix concrete businesses of HeildelbergCement in Catalonia.

US: Holcim has signed an agreement to acquire Malarkey Roofing Products for US$1.35bn. The transaction will be financed with cash and it is expected to complete in the first quarter of 2022. The Switzerland-based construction materials group said that the acquisition would fit well with its Firestone Building Products subsidiary and that the purchase would position it as a full roofing provider. Malarkey Roofing Products has forecast net sales of US$600m and earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of US$120m in 2020.

Jan Jenisch, the chief executive officer of Holcim, said “We are off to a strong start to our ‘Strategy 2025 – Accelerating Green Growth’ with the acquisition of Malarkey Roofing Products, expanding our Solutions & Products business to become a global leader in roofing systems.” He added “Our companies are highly complementary with many upsides.”

Malarkey Roofing Products was founded by Herbert Malarkey in 1956 and has its headquarters in Portland, Oregon. It provides products for the residential roofing market from roofing shingles to ice and water barriers. It operates production plants in Oregon, California and Oklahoma.

Philippines: Cemex says that its integrated APO Cement plant in Naga City, Cebu is operational following Typhoon Odette. It reported to the Philippine Stock Exchange that the site had suffered property damage but that key production equipment had not sustained major damage. However, it has scaled back product dispatch due to infrastructure and logistical challenges caused by the aftermath of the typhoon. It also offered its thoughts to “those adversely affected by the storm and said that, “The safety and well-being of employees, contractors and communities are an immediate concern.

Oman: Oman Cement Company has invited contractors to submit bids for work at its integrated Rusayl plant. It wants to build a new 10,000t/day production line (Line 4) and upgrade an existing line (Line 3) to 5000t/day from 4000t/day. The plans were originally released in September 2021. The company also intends to shut down Lines 1 and 2 once work is completed.

It was previously reported in October 2021 that the cement producer was spending US$300m on the project and that it had hired Switzerland-based PEG Resources. At this time the project had a commissioning date of 2024.

India: State Bank of India (SBI) has acquired a minority stake in JSW Cement with worth US$13.2m. The bank acquired the stake as compulsorily convertible preference shares. JSW Cement plans to add the capital infusion to its on-going investments in a planned 79% expansion of its total capacity to 25Mt from 14Mt.

India: UltraTech Cement has announced its decision to temporarily suspend production at its Awarpur cement plant in Maharashtra after it became impossible to operate the plant due to the activities of sit-in protestors. The Times of India newspaper has reported that informal union Vijay Kranti Kantrati Kamgar Sanghatna (VKKKS) organised sit-ins at all five cement plants in Chandrapur district. The organisation is protesting workers’ pay.