Displaying items by tag: Finance

US: Queens Carbon has secured US$10m in seed funding to scale up production of its novel cement and supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs). The start-up will build a 2000t/yr demonstration plant at strategic partner Buzzi Unicem USA's Stockertown, Pennsylvania, cement plant. The plant will demonstrate Queens Carbon’s low-energy Q-Reactor technology, which employs novel hydrothermal chemistry, with the help of steam and pressure, to combine standard cement feedstocks into carbon-neutral hydraulic cement and SCMs. The company’s flagship product, Q-SCM, is capable of replacing up to 50% of cement in concrete mixes. Queens Carbon says that it will now also begin preparations for its first full-scale commercial plant.

Buzzi Unicem USA was among investors in the seed funding round, led by Climate technologies investor Clean Energy Ventures, with participation from fellow venture capital firm Plug and Play.

Queens Carbon CEO Daniel Kopp said "With support from Clean Energy Ventures, Buzzi Unicem USA and the US Department of Energy, we're building next-generation technology and assembling the creative talent needed to drive industry revenues to move cement innovation forward and significantly reduce CO₂ emissions from cement production, all without a green premium."

Luigi Buzzi, Chief Technology Officer at Italy-based Buzzi, said "We know that achieving our goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 demands forward-thinking solutions to enhance both our operations and our environmental performance.”

US: Eco Material Technologies has secured a US$800m green term loan facility. The facility will mature in 2032. Eco Material Technologies will invest the funds in expansion to its supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) production capacities, to raise them to 20Mt/yr.

The company noted the oversubscription of the raise as demonstrative of high confidence in its proposition for the decarbonisation of cement and concrete.

India: Aditya Birla subsidiary UltraTech Cement is reportedly considering issuing bonds worth US$118m. Informist MoneyWire News has reported that the issuance may take place later in November 2024.

India: UltraTech Cement announced plans to make a private placement of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) on 12 November 2024. MarketLine News has reported that the value of the proposed placement as US$356m.

One unusual thing about coverage of cement in the media is the way that discussions often centre precisely on its absence – that is, on alternatives to cement. These alternatives boast unique chemistries and performance characteristics, but are all produced without Portland cement clinker. They are generally called ‘alternative cements,’ perhaps because ‘cement-free cement’ does not have such a commercially viable ring to it. This contradictory tendency reached a new high in the past week, with developments in alternative cement across Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North America. Together, they hint at a more diverse future for the ‘cement’ industry than the one we know today.

Asia

In Indonesia, Suvo Strategic Minerals has concluded tests with Makassar State University of a novel nickel-slag-based cement. Huadi Nickel-Alloy Indonesia supplied raw materials, and tests showed a seven-day compressive strength of 37.5MPa. Suvo Strategic Minerals says that a partnership with Huadi Nickel-Alloy Indonesia for commercial production is a likely next step.

Europe

Cement producer Mannok and minerals company Boliden partnered with the South Eastern Applied Materials (SEAM) research centre in Ireland to launch a project to develop supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) from shale on 7 October 2024. The project will additionally investigate CO₂-curing of cement paste backfill for use in mines. Irish state-owned global commerce agency Enterprise Ireland has contributed €700,000 in funding.

UK-based SCM developer Karbonite expects to launch trial production of its olivine-based SCM with a concrete company in 2025. The start-up launched Karbonite Group Holding BV, with offices in the Netherlands, to facilitate this new phase. Karbonite’s SCM is activated at 750 – 850°C and sequesters CO₂ in the activation process, resulting in over 56% lower CO₂ emissions than ordinary Portland cement (OPC). Managing director Rajeev Sood told Global Cement that talks are already underway for subsequent expansions into the UAE and India.

Back in the UK, contractor John Sisk & Son has received €597,000 from national innovation agency Innovate UK. John Sisk & Son is testing fellow Ireland-based company Ecocem’s <25% clinker cement technology in concrete for use in its on-going construction of the Wembley Park mixed development in London.

At the same time, Innovate UK granted a further €3.23m to other companies for concrete decarbonisation. Recipients included a calcined clay being developed by Cemcor, an SCM being developed from electric arc furnace byproducts by Cocoon, a geopolymer cement technology being developed by EFC Green Concrete Technology UK and an initiative to develop alternative cement from recycled concrete fines at the Materials Processing Institute in Middlesbrough. Also included was the Skanska Costain Strabag joint venture, which is working on the London stretch of the upcoming HS2 railway. The joint venture, along with partners including cement producer Tarmac and construction chemicals company Sika UK, will test low-kaolinite London clay as a raw material with which to produce calcined clay as a cement substitute in concrete structures in HS2’s rail tunnels.

Middle East

Talks are underway between UK-based calcined clay producer Next Generation SCM and City Cement subsidiary Nizak Mining Company over the possible launch of a joint venture in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The joint venture would build a 350,000t/yr reduced-CO₂ concrete plant, which would use alternative cement based on Next Generation SCM’s calcined clay.

North America

Texas-based SCM developer Solidia Technologies recently patented its carbonatable calcium silicate-based alternative cement, which sequesters CO₂ as it cures.

Meanwhile, C-Crete Technologies made its first commercial pour of its granite-based cement-free concrete in New York, US. C-Crete Technologies says that the product offers cost and performance parity with conventional cement, with net zero CO₂ emissions. Its raw material is globally more abundant than the limestone used as a raw material for clinker. Other abundantly available feedstocks successfully deployed within C-Crete Technologies’ repertoire include basalt and zeolite.

Across New York State, in Binghamton, KLAW Industries has succeeded in replacing 20% of concrete’s cement content with its powdered glass-based SCM, Pantheon. KLAW Industries has delivered samples to local municipalities and the New York State Department of Transportation. Its success expands the discussion of possible circular cement ingredients from the industrial sphere into post-consumer resources.

In Calgary, Canada, a novel SCM has drawn attention from one of the major cement incumbents: Germany-based Heidelberg Materials. It invested in local construction and demolition materials (CDM)-based SCM developer EnviCore on 9 October 2024. The companies plan to build a pilot plant at an existing Heidelberg Materials CDM recycling centre.

Conclusion

Alternative cement developers are still finding the words to talk about their products. They may be more than ‘supplementary’ up to the point of entirely supplanting 100% of clinker. Product webpages offer ‘hydraulic binder,’ ‘pozzolan’ and even ‘cement.’ As alternative ‘cements’ are developed, they build on the work of pioneers like Joseph Aspdin and Louis Vicat. Start-ups and their backers are now reaching commercial offerings, on a similar-but-different footing to cement itself. None of these novel materials positions itself as the sole, last-minute ‘super sub’ in the construction sector’s confrontation with climate change. Rather, they are a package of solutions which can combine into a net zero-emissions heavy building materials offering, hopefully before 2050.

Related to this is the need for ‘technology neutral’ standards, as championed this week by the Alliance for Low-Carbon Cement and Concrete (ALCCC), along with 23 other European industry associations, civil society organisations and think tanks. The term may sound new, but the concept is critical to the eventual uptake of alternative cements: standards, the ALCCC says, should be purely performance-based. They ought not attempt to define what technology, for example cement clinker, makes a suitable building material. According to the ALCCC, Europe’s building materials standards are not technology neutral, but instead ‘gatekeep’ market access, to the benefit of conventional cement and the exclusion of ‘proven and scalable low-carbon products.’

At the same time, cement itself is changing. Market research from USD Analytics showed an anticipated 5% composite annual growth rate in blended cement sales between 2024 and 2032, more than doubling throughout the period from US$253bn to US$369bn. If you can’t beat it, blend with it!

For a further discussion of alternative cement and binders in Europe, see Global Cement’s interview with ALCCC co-ordinator Joren Verschaeve in the forthcoming November issue of Global Cement Magazine on 17 October 2024.

Saudi Arabia: Al Jouf Cement Company’s board of directors has accepted the resignation of Suleiman Abdulaziz Al-Zaben as chair of its audit committee. Al-Zaben had been serving as committee member from outside the board.

In July 2024, Al Jouf Cement Company took legal action against unnamed former board members, following an investigation into possible ‘administrative irregularities’ by an independent auditor launched in December 2023.

Saudi Arabia: Eastern Province Cement Company has secured US$226m through a credit facilities agreement with Saudi National Bank. Arab News Releases has reported that Eastern Province Cement Company will use the funds for an upcoming new 10,000t/day line at its Al Khursaniyah cement plant in Eastern Province.

The on-going construction of the Al Khursaniyah cement plant’s new line has a budget of US$271m and was first announced on 7 January 2024.

Canada: Votorantim Cimentos subsidiary St Marys Cement has entered redemption of all its outstanding 2027 senior notes, at a value of US$229m. The company notified the holders of the notes accordingly.

India: The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has declined to stay insolvency proceedings against Jaiprakash Associates, following a challenge by its board. The board has been suspended since the NCLAT admitted an insolvency plea against the company on 3 June 2024. Press Trust of India News has reported that ICICI Bank first initiated proceedings over outstanding debts in September 2018.

The board of Jaiprakash Associates submitted that it will remain ‘asset-rich,’ even after it sells cement plants to repay loans. It attributed its present ‘liquidity crunch’ to delayed government approvals, ‘prolonged’ litigation and policy changes. The NCLAT stated that it must admit insolvency pleas in cases of defaulted debt repayment, saying that a judicial resolution will prevent further depletion of Jaiprakash Associates’ assets.

Nigeria: Lafarge Africa has announced leadership changes following the retirement of Adebode Adefioye as its chair. Adefioye served as a board member since 2012 and as chair since June 2020. Gbenga Oyebode succeeds Adefioye in the role of chair. Oyebode has 42 years’ legal, corporate governance and business operational experience. He currently also chairs Okomu Oil Palm Company, Nestle Nigeria and CFAO Nigeria. Upon his accession to chair, Oyebode will step down from all Lafarge Africa board committees.

Lafarge Africa appointed Puneet Sharma as chief financial officer. Sharma brings 30 years’ corporate experience, including management roles at Tropical General Investment Nigeria and GSK Nigeria. He is a member of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and a graduate of Panjabi University, Patiala, India.

Adebode Adefioye said "My tenure on the board is filled with good memories. The company has witnessed significant transformation in the last four years and I am happy that this is attributable to the efforts of every member of the board. I feel fulfilled in retiring as chair knowing fully well that I will be leaving the leadership of the board in good hands. I am grateful for the support of the entire board and the confidence reposed in me.”