India: A reduction in government spending and delays to the release of state funds ahead of India’s general election led to a slowdown in Indian cement demand growth in April and May 2019. Growth in cement consumption is expected to fall to a seven quarter low in the quarter to 30 June 2019.

“Pan-India cement demand will post muted 3-5% growth in the current quarter (the first quarter of the 2020 Fiscal Year), with states in the East (Bihar, Odisha) and South (Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and Tamil Nadu) moving at a snail's pace of 2-4%," said Hetal Gandhi, director at Crisil Research. However, Crisil expects demand to pick up in the second half of the 2020 fiscal year, with growth 6.0-7.5% for the 12 months to 31 March 2020 as a whole.

India: Ramco Cements has launched a new premium blended cement, Ramco Supercrete. The company says that Ramco Supercrete is packed in Biaxially Oriented Polypropylene bags (BOPP) bags to ensure no spillage and thus ensure a cleaner environment. Ramco Supercrete will be targeted at the ‘premium’ section of the cement market.

Ramco Cement also reports that it has invested US$500m in various expansions that are underway. The company's new capacity in West Bengal is already on stream. The company's Odisha plant is expected to be commissioned by October 2019, its Vizag plant expansion will be completed by December 2019, its Jayanthipuram expansion by July 2020 and work on its Kurnool plant will be finished by March 2021.

Honduras: Colombia’s Ultracem plans to build a new cement grinding plant in Cortés, Honduras. At present the company has invested US$2m in the country and it employs 60 people, according to La Prensa newspaper. The new production plant will create another 100 jobs. The cement producer currently operates a grinding plant at Barranquilla in Colombia.

Peru: The Supreme Court has upheld a fine of nearly US$2m by the National Institute for the Defense of Free Competition and the Protection of Intellectual Property (INDECOPI) on UNACEM. The penalty was levied due to UNACEM and its distribution network refusing to allow retailers to sell cement made by its competitor, according to the Gestión newspaper. INDECOPI said that in 2014 UNACEM and its collaborators refused to allow retailers to stock its Sol brand of cement if they were selling the rival Quisqueya brand produced by Mexico’s Cemex.

Japan: Sumitomo Osaka Cement has commissioned a new 6000t silo at its Shimizu termimal in Shizuoka. Following the upgrade, the unit now has three silos. The new silo will be used to support infrastructure projects, including expansions to the Shinkansen high-speed railway network.

US: Dragon Products’ Thomaston cement plant in Maine restarted production in early May 2019. A fire damaged the unit in late March 2019, according to the Penobscot Bay Pilot. Plant employees and contractors spent six weeks repairing and replacing building structures, conduit and wires, motors, gearboxes, bearings, material transport equipment and other equipment.

US: The Portland Cement Association (PCA) and other trade associations from the concrete and steel sector have urged that Larry Kudlow, the director of the National Economic Council, review the use of government funds on projects that use wood as a building material. The American Concrete Pumping Association, American Institute of Steel Construction, American Iron and Steel Institute, California Construction and Industrial Materials Association, Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute, National Concrete Masonry Association, National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Oregon Concrete & Aggregate Producers Association, Steel Framing Industry Association, Steel Manufacturers Association and the PCA expressed disappointment that the Department of Agriculture had awarded over US$8.9m for 29 projects designed to expand markets for wood products, particularly mass timber, for building construction.

The industry associations acknowledged the increase in cross laminated timber (CLT) projects in the US but they said they were concerned about the use of CLT on a large scale. They said that the grants unfairly promoted one building material at the expense of another.

Algeria: LafargeHolcim Algeria’s Oggaz cement plant has been awarded ISO 14001:2015 certification for environmental management, according to the El Watan newspaper. The plant has a total cement production capcaity of 3.8Mt/yr, comprising 3.2Mt/yr of gray cement and 0.6Mt/yr of white cement. The unit also has a waste treatment facility.

Canada: Lafarge Canada plans to develop and demonstrate a full-cycle solution to capture and reuse CO₂ from a cement plant. Project CO₂MENT will demonstrate and evaluate Inventys' CO₂ capture system and a selection of CO₂ utilisation technologies at Lafarge's Richmond cement plant in British Colombia over the next four years. This project is being led by Inventys in partnership with Lafarge Canada and Total. It also received financial support from CCP (CO₂ Capture Project), the Province of British Colombia and Canada's federal government through the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP).

"At Inventys, we see a real opportunity to build a CO₂ marketplace where tonnes of CO₂ are traded between emitters and users," said Inventys president and chief executive officer (CEO) Claude Letourneau.

Phase I of Project CO₂MENT, the Contaminant Program, will attempt to reduce harmful organic and inorganic substances, such as sulphur dioxide, dust and soot, as well as nitrogen oxides, from cement flue gas. Phase II, the CO₂ Capture Program, will separate the CO₂ from flue gas using a customised-for-cement version of Inventys' carbon capture technology at pilot scale. Phase III, the CO₂ Reuse Program, will prepare post-combustion CO₂ for reuse and support the economical assessment and demonstration of CO₂ conversion technologies onsite, such as CO₂-injected concrete and fly ash.

Funding for the first two phases is complete and development of Phase I is underway. Phase I will begin operation in 2019 followed by Phase II and III in 2020.

Malaysia: Hong Leong Group has offered to buy out the minority shareholders in Tasek. The offer values the cement producer at around US$160m, according to the Star newspaper. Hong Leong Group is controlled by Quek Leng Chan who owns an 80% stake in Tasek through Hong Leong Asia. If the minority shareholders accept the offer the the cement producer could become a private company. Tasek operates a 2.3Mt/yr integrated plant in Perak state.