Displaying items by tag: Portland Cement Association

On 6 November 2024, Donald Trump appeared before followers in Florida, US, to declare victory in the 47th US presidential election. A sea of red baseball caps reflected the promise of the former president, now once again president-elect, to Make America Great Again. What Trump’s triumph means for the cement industry is not so straightforward. One lesson of President Trump’s 2017 – 2021 tenure as 45th president is that a Trump presidency comes with winners and losers.

Alongside the international heads of state posting their congratulations to Trump via social media was the Portland Cement Association (PCA), which represents US cement producers. In a post to LinkedIn, it took the chance to set out its priorities for the upcoming presidency, set to commence on 20 January 2025. These include collaborating on ‘market‐based initiatives’ to further reduce US cement’s CO₂ emissions, addressing ‘regulatory burdens’ that currently hinder the uptake of alternative fuels (AF) and ensuring favourable policies and funding for the use of alternative cements under federal transport programmes, which are up for renewal in 2026, as well as collaborating on carbon capture, utilisation and storage.

The post was suitably diplomatic for an organisation that will have to work with the incoming administration for the next four years. Reading the policy priorities against some of Trump’s campaign promises, however, they may be more pointed. As part of his plan to stimulate economic growth, Trump has proposed an unspecified reduction of the ‘regulatory burden’ of environmental standards. He also purports to want to replace renewables with increased use of fossil fuels – in direct opposition to the PCA’s goal to slash the US cement industry’s coal and petcoke reliance from 60% to 10% by 2050. The PCA’s stance is not merely ideological: its roadmap is founded on the legally-binding Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation. Trump, who considers the Paris Agreement a ‘disaster,’ has the stated aim of withdrawing the US from the treaty – for a second time!

The PCA included a positive note that “We can all agree that the ultimate goal of our industry and the government is to best serve the American people.” In case there were any doubt as to what it feels best serves those people, it concluded that it will work with all federal officials to help communities in the US to build ‘a more resilient, sustainable’ country.

Producers themselves, in the US and many other markets, had been finalising first-half or nine-month financial results when the Trump news broke. Now came half-anticipated strategy discussions – and a surprise: in market after market, trading in cement stocks opened on the up. Ireland-based CRH’s share price spiked by 15%, before settling on a rise of 6% day-on-day. Mexico-based Cemex’s rose by 7% and Switzerland-based Holcim’s by 5%. Investors, clearly, glimpsed opportunity in uncertainty for these US-involved operators.

Trump’s campaign successfully positioned him as the disruptive outsider, despite being the known (or, at least, known-to-be-unpredictable) quantity of the two candidates. His promise to Americans was increased affordability; to corporations, deregulation. Either way, he stands to overhaul the past four years’ policy on the economy. All of this may keep Wall Street high-ballers placing their bets on Cemex or CRH, or on Holcim North America after it eventually joins them on the New York Stock Exchange. The prospect of more money in homebuyers’ pockets is attractive, especially to allied sectors like property development, where Trump himself worked for over 40 years. The cement industry, meanwhile, will be taking a hard look at what the Trump proposition might mean for its market.

US Geological Survey (USGS) data tracks a favourable market trend under the present Biden Administration – to date – for a US cement industry that has also grown in production terms. Consumption was 120Mt in 2023, up by 14% over the three-year-period from 2020, while production was 91Mt, up by 4% over the same period. President Biden has signed into law two major pieces of legislation – the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act – with a combined value of US$1.94tn in additional public spending, to President Trump’s none. However, the Republican president previously proposed investing an additional US$200bn in 2018.

Trump voters may have perused the USGS’ most recent monthly cement figures, for July 2024, before casting their votes. The figures recorded a 5.2% year-on-year decline in total cement shipments in the year-to-date, to 58.6Mt. Both Eagle Materials and Italy-based Buzzi noted a recent lack of growth in US sales volumes in their latest financial results. Another possibly alarming trend for the industry – and anyone with a protectionist mindset - is the growth of imports, which rose from 14.8Mt in 2019 to 26Mt in 2023.

A defining feature of Trump’s original presidency, alongside Covid-19 lockdown, was his still-ongoing trade wars. We can expect Trump to resume his roll-out of new tariffs as soon as he can. This might include cement plant equipment produced in other jurisdictions, such as the EU. Compared to the roster of goods he previously denied entry to the US, however, 26Mt/yr of cement will be less easy to wrangle with in a country with a domestic shortfall of 29Mt/yr.

Whatever happens in politics, the US cement sector remains very strong, with historied local ownership and some of the most innovative plants in the industry globally. Global players continue to seek to maximise their US-facing presence, as evidenced by Brazil-based Votorantim Cimentos’ contemplation of an initial public offering (IPO) for Votorantim Cimentos North America, announced on 7 November 2024. For the industry, the day-to-day grind – and pyroprocess – goes on.

After all, Trump did not enact many of his more disruptive proposals, such as building a Mexican border wall, after his win in 2016. See Global Cement’s analysis of that proposal here. But even this record is an unreliable guide for what to expect in 2025 – 2029. Not only did Trump himself win the popular mandate this time around, but his allies also gained majorities in the House of Representatives and Senate, comprising the US legislature. This betokens a different pace and scale of possible changes.

In 10 weeks’ time, the US cement sector will be lobbying an entirely new regime. Now is the time for it to prepare whatever arguments will appeal to incoming lawmakers to allow it make the best of such opportunities as may be available.

Canada: Canada-based carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) company Carbon Upcycling has been admitted to the Portland Cement Association (PCA). This new membership aims to support industry efforts to achieve carbon neutrality. The US Department of Energy previously announced over US$1.2bn in funding for PCA member companies to launch decarbonisation projects under recent federal initiatives. Carbon Upcycling has been developing a commercial CCS system at CRH’s cement plant in Mississauga.

PCA president and CEO Mike Ireland said "We are thrilled to have Carbon Upcycling join us as a member of the PCA, given our shared commitment to sustainability. Their efforts are helping the cement industry increase circularity and advance the industry's commitment to achieving carbon neutrality."

CEO of Carbon Upcycling Apoorv Sinha said "The most effective and credible pathway to decarbonising the cement industry is through strategic partnerships and collaboration with long-time industry leaders in the infrastructure sector. Joining the PCA underscores our commitment to advance sustainable practices and substantially reduce carbon emissions. We look forward to forging a low-carbon, resilient future with our fellow members."

US: Representatives of the Portland Cement Association (PCA) and its members are meeting politicians at Congress to discuss cement sector decarbonisation on 12 and 13 June 2024. The PCA says that meetings will address permitting processes and new emission standards affecting the industry.

PCA president and CEO Mike Ireland said "There's a lot happening in Washington this year that directly impacts America's cement manufacturers, which is likely why we have a record turnout of cement company leadership in town for this fly-in. Our industry's top objective is to reach carbon neutrality. While our companies appreciate recent funding from the Department of Energy to assist in decarbonisation efforts, it's still challenging for them to make significant advancements due to a cumbersome permitting system and unrealistic Environmental Protection Agency regulations that could lead to eventual cuts in plant operations and staffing. As the infrastructure law is hitting its stride, the country needs more cement and concrete, not less. We're here to ask Congress to work with us to arrive at reasonable policies and standards that will allow manufacturers to continue to provide the resilient, sustainable building materials our country has come to expect."

US: The Portland Cement Association (PCA)’s Environment and Energy Committee met in Tampa, Florida, to discuss the formation of a new coalition with other industry bodies under the leadership of the US Chamber of Commerce. The PCA said the coalition will take legal action against the US government, following the Environmental Protection Association (EPA)'s introduction of new, lower particulates emissions standards. The association says that the revised standards may lead to layoffs and lower cement and concrete production.

Other items on the agenda for the committee’s biannual meeting include permitting and regulatory reform for carbon capture, utilisation and storage and alternative fuels for cement production.

US: The Portland Cement Association (PCA) has voiced its concerns over the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s newly finalised standard for particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5). The new standard reduces the level of particulate matter below 2.5μm diameter permitted in flue gas emissions to 9μg/m³ from 12μg/m³. The PCA says that it is concerned that the new rule may restrict US cement producers’ operations and ‘further complicate’ their efforts to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

President and CEO Mike Ireland said “This new rule strikes at the heart of the US cement industry's ability to deliver on the Biden Administration's infrastructure goals, as it would lead to fewer hours of operation at plants, which would mean layoffs, as well as less American cement and concrete at a time when the country needs more.” He added “The previous EPA standard on particulate matter emissions — arrived at by government officials working with industry — significantly drove down those emissions by 37% over the last 20 years. This downward trend would have continued without the new standard imposed."

However, EPA administrator Michael Stanley Regan said that the updated standard will prevent 4500 premature deaths and 290,000 lost workdays annually by 2032. Regan said “We do not have to sacrifice people to have a prosperous and booming economy.”

US: Portland Cement Association (PCA) chief economist and senior vice president of market intelligence Ed Sullivan forecast a recovery of the US economy in the second half of 2024 at the World of Concrete conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. However, Sullivan told attendees that the economy will ‘gradually weaken’ in the first half of the year. The anticipated weakening is compounded by the end of Covid-19 relief programmes, delayed monetary policy effects and credit tightening. Supporting growth throughout the year are some of the US$550bn infrastructure investments under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The US government says that 40,000 new projects under the act are either in progress or completed.

Ed Sullivan said "In terms of the construction outlook, there will be a battle between interest sensitive construction sectors and less interest sensitive construction activity such as infrastructure spending and the construction of large manufacturing plants associated with the CHIPS and Science Act."

It has been a busy week for carbon capture in the cement sector with Global Cement covering five stories. However, increasingly, the topic has become a regular feature in the press as the industry bends to the demands of the carbon agenda. This week’s selection is notable because three of the stories cover North America.

Holcim US announced that it is working with Ohio State University and GTI Energy to design, build and test engineering-scale membrane carbon capture technology at the Holly Hill cement plant in South Carolina. The information builds on an earlier release from the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) in late December 2023 about the project. It has a total budget of US$9m, with US$7m supplied by the DOE. It plans to build a 3t/day CO₂ capture unit that uses a method intended to retain 95 - 99% of CO₂ from cement kiln gas with a purity exceeding 95%. The new information at this stage is that GTI Energy is involved. Specifically, it will support the development of the pilot skid for site deployment.

The other two stories from North America are worth noting because they both concern commercial equipment or technology suppliers joining up to work together. First, 10 companies - Biomason, Blue Planet Systems, Brimstone, CarbonBuilt, Chement, Fortera, Minus Materials, Queens Carbon, Sublime Systems, and Terra CO₂ - announced they were launching the Decarbonized Cement and Concrete Alliance (DC2). The group’s principal aim is to lobby the US government toward using new low-carbon cement and concrete products in public infrastructure. It also intends to look at advocacy and public sector engagement including expanded tax credits, development of standards for novel cements, consistent ecolabeling and accounting, and customer demand support. DC2 was formally launched in January 2024 but it follows previous work by the companies in the area. The other related story was a memorandum of understanding that Aker Carbon Capture and MAN Energy Solutions have also signed this week to jointly pursue opportunities related to carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) and CO₂ compression in the North American market. These two companies have worked on the full-scale CCUS unit at Norcem’s Brevik cement plant, which is due to be commissioned later in 2024. They are likely intending to capitalise on the publicity that is likely to be generated once it officially starts up.

Back in North America the DC2 Alliance noted in its press release the DOE’s release of its Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: Low-Carbon Cement report in September 2023. Although it is similar to many other varied sector roadmaps, including the Portland Cement Association’s Road to Net Zero that was released in 2021, this document is well worth reading due to its details and local market context. The headline figure, for example, is that following a set of pathways to fully decarbonise the US cement industry would cost US$60 - 120bn by 2050. Doing so would involve reducing the clinker factor, improving energy efficiency, increased use of alternative fuels, using CCUS, using alternative feedstocks and adopting alternatives to traditional cement production methods.

Graph 1: US active cement kilns by capacity and age. Source: PCA survey data used in Department of Energy Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: Low-Carbon Cement report.

One other interesting tidbit to consider from the report is an analysis of the age of the US cement sector’s kilns versus their production capacity as shown in Graph 1 above. The largest 10 kilns in the country account for 22% of the country’s total capacity and these were all built after 2000. Then, the next 44% of the national capacity comes from 38 kilns out of a total of 120 kilns at 98 cement plants. The report itself does not make this assertion but the implication is that retrofitting CCUS units at one third of the country’s clinker lines would capture the CO2 being emitted from two-thirds of the sector’s production capacity. This is not to say that this could actually work technically, logistically or economically. Yet seeing the scale of the challenge presented in this way is fascinating and one starts to have thoughts about how a retrofit roll-out of CCUS units might actually be approached.

Whether the cement sector adopts CCUS at scale remains to be seen but demonstration projects are definitely coming in both Europe and North America. The DOE report from September 2023 suggests that decarbonisation will cost a lot of money. No surprises there and, as ever, there is rather less detail on who will actually pay for this. One thing that might help here, that the DOE report mentions frequently, is the 45Q carbon capture tax credit scheme, which was introduced by the Trump administration in 2020. Regardless of the potential bill for consumers of cement though, the suppliers are clearly taking note of the investment potential as evidenced by all the non-cement plant CCUS news stories this week.

The 1st Global CemCCUS Conference will take place 13 - 15 May 2024 in Norway and it will include a plant tour of the Norcem Brevik cement plant and CCS project

US: The Portland Cement Association (PCA) has elected Massimo Toso as its next chair. He is the current president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Buzzi Unicem USA and has worked as the vice chair of the association. He succeeds Filiberto Ruiz, president and CEO of Votorantim Cimentos North America, in the post.

Monica Manolas has been elected as vice chair. She is the first woman in the 21st century to be elected to the position and she currently works as the president of Ash Grove East. Jorge Wagner, CEO of Votorantim Cimentos North America, was also elected to the PCA Board of Directors.

US: Summit Materials has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with hydrogen producer PCC Hydrogen (PCCH2). The MOU establishes an alliance to develop a fuel replacement strategy for Summit Materials’ cement production. PCCH2 will build a hydrogen plant to supply green hydrogen at a cement plant belonging to Summit Materials subsidiary Continental Cement.

Continental Cement president David Loomes said "Continental Cement has a longstanding commitment to environmental stewardship, seeking out opportunities to develop innovative practices and differentiated solutions to build a better tomorrow. Our company has signed on to the Portland Cement Association (PCA)'s Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality, with a goal of achieving carbon neutrality across the value chain by 2050. By coupling PCCH2's hydrogen production process with our cement manufacturing know-how, we are taking a bold stride towards achieving that goal, while continuing the push to cost-effective decarbonisation of cement manufacturing."

US: The Portland Cement Association (PCA) has announced the winners of its 2023 Safety Innovation and Chairman's Safety Performance Awards.

The Safety Innovation Award Program recognises companies that have developed innovative practices, projects and programs that improve safety at cement plants in the US. Entries are judged in five areas: innovation, ease of use and ease of construction, effectiveness and risk prevention. The recipients were:

• Distribution: Continental Cement, Continental Port Allen Terminal, Chesterfield, Missouri
• Quarry: CalPortland Company, CalPortland Oro Grande Plant, Oro Grande, California
• Pyroprocessing: GCC of America, GCC Tijeras Plant, Tijeras, New Mexio
• General Facility: Mitsubishi Cement Corporation, Mitsubishi Cushenbury Plant, Lucerne Valley, California

The Chairman’s Safety Performance Awards are given to member cement plants that did not have a reportable injury or illness during the year. Fifteen plants achieved this in 2023, which represented more than 10% of all active cement facilities in the US and its territories. The recipients were:

• Argos USA, Atlanta, Georgia
• Argos USA, Newberry, Florida
• Argos Puerto Rico Corp, Dorado, Puerto Rico
• Ash Grove Cement Company (CRH), Durkee, Oregon
• Ash Grove Cement Company (CRH), Midlothian, Texas
• Buzzi Unicem USA, Chattanooga, Tennessee
• Buzzi Unicem USA, Maryneal, Texas
• CalPortland Company, Rillito, Arizona
• GCC of America, Odessa, Texas
• Heidelberg Materials, Bellingham, Washington
• Martin Marietta Materials, New Braunfels, Texas
• Martin Marietta Materials, Midlothian, Texas
• Martin Marietta Materials, Tehachapi, California
• National Cement Company of California, Kern, California
• St Marys Cement (Votorantim), Detroit, Michigan