Displaying items by tag: Europe

Europe: The European cement producers’ association Cembureau says that a possible reduction of European Union (EU) Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) free allowances would endanger cement producers’ investment decisions and projects. It says that this in turn might produce competition distortions with third parties. The EU is planning to implement a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) but the association is concerned that its ‘Fit for 55’ 55% CO₂ emissions reduction target for 2030 may have negative implications for the cement industry. However, the association said that it supported the concept of a CBAM.

Cembureau has called for a transition period until 2030 whereby free allocation under the EU ETS will continue fully alongside the introduction of the CBAM. It added that this is compatible with World Trade Organisation rules and avoids any form of ‘double protection’ provided the free allocation is taken into account when calculating the levy paid by any third-party importers. It further stated that the CBAM must cover both direct and indirect emissions. It has also continued to press the legislators to provide for a CO2 charge exemption for EU exporters to third countries, if the country in question is not covered by an equivalent carbon pricing mechanism. The association asked the EU to consider implementing secondary legislation before any CBAM enters force, and to ensure consistency of ‘Fit for 55’ legislative initiatives, applied across a sufficient breadth of sectors to preclude market distortions.

Europe: The European Union (EU) Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) has reached a price of Euro50/t. Data from Refinitiv and reporting by Reuters shows that on 4 May 2021 it hit Euro50.05/t, its highest level since the scheme started in 2005. Prior to late 2020 the carbon market price remained below Euro30/t. The fourth phase of the EU ETS started in January 2021.

Europe: Members of the European Parliament (MEP) have adopted a resolution supporting a European Union (EU) carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM). If enacted by the EU then a carbon tax could be levied on certain goods imported from outside the EU that don’t meet local decarbonisation standards. MEPs stressed that it should be World Trade Organisation compatible and not be misused as a tool to enhance protectionism.

The new mechanism is intended to be part of a broader EU industrial strategy and cover all imports of products and commodities covered by the EU emissions trading scheme (ETS). MEPs add that already by 2023, and following an impact assessment, it should cover the power sector and energy-intensive industrial sectors like cement, steel, aluminium, oil refinery, paper, glass, chemicals and fertilisers, which continue to receive substantial free allocations, and still represent 94% of EU industrial emissions.

“The CBAM is a great opportunity to reconcile climate, industry, employment, resilience, sovereignty and relocation issues. We must stop being naïve and impose the same carbon price on products, whether they are produced in or outside the EU, to ensure the most polluting sectors also take part in fighting climate change and innovate towards zero carbon. This is our best chance of remaining below the 1.5°C warming limit, whilst also pushing our trading partners to be equally ambitious in order to enter the EU market,” said EU Parliament rapporteur Yannick Jadot.

The European Commission is expected to present a legislative proposal on a CBAM in the second quarter of 2021 as part of the European Green Deal as well as a proposal on how to include the revenue generated to finance part of the EU budget.

Europe: The European Union (EU) Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) has reached a price of Euro40/t for the first time in its history. Data from the environmental campaign group Sandbag show that on 9 March 2021 it hit Euro40.58/t. Carbon prices under the scheme started to climb in 2018 after stagnation in much of the 2010s. The fourth phase of the EU ETS started in January 2021.

Europe: Cemex commissioned seven new bolt-on investments across Europe in January 2021. The company says that all of the investments are aligned to its key priorities of climate action, sustainable construction and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) growth. They include advances in fossil fuel reduction, lower CO₂ footprint products, circular economy investments and products that demonstrate life cycle CO₂ and energy consumption advantages for buildings. It made various changes at its cement plants, for example the installation of a new alternative fuel (AF) system in the Czech Republic. In France and the UK, it made circular economy and recycling improvements, and shifted to lower-CO₂ cement production in Croatia and lightweight concrete production in Spain. Additionally, it made efficiency upgrades to sites in Spain and the UK.

Europe, Middle East and Africa regional president Sergio Menendez said, “We have made a strong start to our 2021 ambitions to both grow our business and improve our climate impact. In 2020, we achieved our ambition of a 35% reduction in our CO₂ emissions compared to our 1990 baseline in Europe. We are also the first company in our sector to align our Europe operations to the EU aspiration to reduce CO₂ emissions by at least 55% by 2030. These investments represent further advances towards this 2030 target, as well as to deliver net zero CO₂ concrete globally by 2050.”

Mexico: Cemex has launched Operation Resilience, its 2020 medium-term strategy. The plan consists of strategic divestments, US$280m in cost reduction and optimisation of the company’s portfolio towards European and US markets.

Chief executive officer (CEO) Fernando Gonzalez said, “Operation Resilience lays the foundation for our future. It allows Cemex to optimise its portfolio for profitable growth while securing its position as a leading vertically-integrated heavy building materials company with a focus on four core businesses: cement, ready-mix, aggregates and urbanisation solutions. We will concentrate on developing sustainable urbanisation solutions which meet the needs of growing metropolises while we ourselves progress towards achieving our long-term decarbonisation goals.”

Europe: Cembureau, the European Cement Association, has announced that its ‘Cementing Europe’s Future: Building the Green Deal’ webinar will take place on 13 October 2020. The programme includes keynote speeches from association president Raoul de Parisot and German Minister of Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety Jochen Flasbarth. Additionally, members of the European Parliament and representatives of the European Commission, LafargeHolcim, HeidelbergCement and several other companies involved in the European cement industry will speak.

Ireland: CRH has said that it had a ‘positive start to the year’ in the first three months of 2020. Total sales over the period rose by 3% year-on-year. In the Americas region, cement volumes rose by 4% and prices by 6%. European cement sales were ‘broadly in line with the same period of 2019’ due to general volume and price increases offset by a fall in volumes in Western Europe.

Government-implemented covid-19 restrictions on construction towards the end of the period impacted sales in Canada, the UK and France. The likely effects on 2020 profit ‘cannot be reasonably estimated at this time.’ CRH chief executive officer (CEO) Albert Manifold said, “With the financial strength of CRH and the experience of our leadership teams, we will endure through these unprecedented and uncertain times.”

UK: RDF Industry Group has convened a refuse-derived fuel (RDF) industry working group to meet on a fortnightly basis to discuss the sectoral impacts of coronavirus. The Group said that it ‘is working with competent authorities to ensure the free flow of RDF is maintained.’ It acknowledged that RDF supply is essential to European cement production, adding, “The flow of RDF from the UK to off-take facilities in Europe is continuing, with the industry overall functioning well.”

Greece: Titan Cement has published its integrated annual report for 2019, a year in which its net profit fell by 5.5% year-on-year to Euro50.9m from Euro53.8m in 2018 and sales rose by 8.0% to Euro1.61bn from Euro1.49bn. The company noted its ‘sustained performance and stronger cash flow generation’ throughout the year, with growing demand in the US and Southeastern Europe and the beginning of growth in Greece, in spite of a 7.0% year-on-year fall in cement volumes to 17.0Mt from 18.2Mt in 2018. Challenging conditions in Egypt and Turkey caused the group’s performance to deteriorate.

Titan Cement said that it is ‘on track to meet the Group’s 2020 sustainability targets and has already met ‘all targets related to emissions and water consumption.’
It acknowledged inevitable ‘short-term impacts’ of coronavirus, including reduced sales volumes ‘particularly and more severely in the second quarter of 2020,’ and has strengthened its liquidity position to Euro400m.