Displaying items by tag: Finance

China: Tianshang Jidong Cement will list and circulate 5% of its shares on 14 July 2022. The producer has the approval of the China Securities Regulatory Commission to raise funds of US$298m from the sale to support its merger with BBMG East Cement.

Burundi: The government of Burundi says that it is ready to sign a credit letter with Dangote Cement for the establishment of a cement plant in the country. In this way, the government hopes to provide a long-term solution to the on-going national cement shortage. In the meantime, the government urged Dangote Cement to devise ‘modalities for the supply of construction materials’ into the country.

Burundian delegates at a meeting with Dangote Cement on 8 July 2022 said that Northwest Burundi is endowed with abundant limestone reserves.

Australia: Boral Finance has announced the early results of a tender offer to purchase cash up to US$300m. The principal amount tendered is US$405m. The tender offer will expire on 20 July 2022.

UK: The UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has granted Carbon Clean Euro701,000 under its Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) Innovation 2.0 programme. Carbon Clean says that it will partner with energy engineering company Doosan Babcock and Newcastle University to develop carbon capture systems which apply non-aqueous solvent (NAS) and rotating packed bed (RPB) technology together for the first time. The partners seek to overcome the challenges of scale and cost in order to advance the widespread deployment of CCUS systems.

The CCUS Innovation 2.0 programme is part of the UK government’s Euro1.17bn Net Zero Innovation Portfolio scheme.

Germany: HeidelbergCement has accelerated its specific CO₂ emissions reduction target to 2030 to 400kg CO₂/t CEM compared with 1990 levels. This represents a 30% cut compared to 2021 levels and a 47% cut compared to 1990 levels. The previous target was 33% compared to 1990 levels. The company said that in the next eight years to 2030 its CO₂ emissions are set to decrease more strongly in percentage terms than in the last three decades.

The building materials producer made the announcement as part of a new set of medium-term sustainability and financial targets entitled ‘Concrete Promises’ that were presented at its Capital Markets Day event in late May 2022. The group plans to generate half of its revenue from sustainable products by 2030. Carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) projects that have already been launched are expected to achieve a cumulative reduction of 10Mt CO₂ by 2030. By 2025, more than 70% of its debt will be covered by sustainable financial instruments. Among other things, the group plans to use a bond programme that it says is the first in the industry to be aligned with the climate goals of the European Union taxonomy.

Dominik von Achten, chair of the managing board of HeidelbergCement, said “We have the ambition, speed, knowledge, technologies and partners to lead the necessary change process in our sector. Our focus is on expanding our portfolio of sustainable products, reducing our CO₂ emissions quickly and significantly, proving that CO₂-free products are possible on a large scale, and creating a circular economy by consistently applying the principles of circularity. Our new sustainability targets for 2030 illustrate this ambition.”

China: Tangshan Jidong Cement plans to launch a share buyback scheme by mid-2023. Reuters News has reported the value of the planned scheme as US$39.9 - 55.8m.

India: The board of JK Cement has recommended a proposal for the company to seek to raise US$64.4m via non-convertible debentures (NCDs). Under the proposal, the cement producer would issue the NCDs on a private placement basis in one or more tranches.

China: Huaxin Cement says it has been approved for a US$5.8m preferential carbon emission reduction loan. It is the first such finance arrangement in the local cement sector. The People's Bank of China established a carbon emission reduction support tool in November 2021 to guide financial institutions to increase green and low-carbon credit support. Huaxin Cement’s Huangshi subsidiary put together its application based around a waste heat recovery project. It then worked with the Bank of Communications and the People's Bank of China. The cement producer says that its other subsidiaries are now working on similar applications.

China: Gansu Qilianshan Cement plans to restructure its business. The group says that, should it proceed with its proposed restructuring, it will issue shares. Reuters News has reported that the restructuring may constitute a material asset restructuring.

Canada: Carbon Upcycling Technologies has secured US$6.15m in financing from a group of companies led by Clean Energy Ventures, Cemex Ventures, Amplify Capital and Oxy Low Carbon Ventures (OLCV). The investment round includes participation from Zero Carbon Partners, Purpose ESG, Clean Energy Venture Group, Fund for Sustainability and Energy, Prithvi Ventures, Bryan Trudel, and Mark and Faye McGregor. Carbon Upcycling intends to use the funding to grow its team and build its second commercial-scale facility in North America, with a production capacity of over 200t/day of its cement and concrete additive. Carbon Upcycling sequesters CO₂ in secondary cementitious materials such as fly ash, which are then used in cement or concrete production.