Displaying items by tag: target

Uzbekistan: Uzbekqurilishmateriallari deputy chair Ulugbek Abrayev has said that Uzbek cement production capacity will total 20.0Mt/yr before 1 January 2021, up by 60% year-on-year from 12.5Mt at the start of 2020. Abrayev added that, due to growing demand, Uzbekistan will produce 14.5Mt in 2021, corresponding to 73% utilisation of projected capacity. A total of ten cement plant projects across eight of the country’s 12 regions are due for completion in 2020 and 2021.

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.

Japan: Taiheiyo Cement has set out the measures by which it aims to achieve its July 2019 target to ‘reduce net CO₂ emissions per unit of cement production’ by 80% between 2000 and 2050. The measures consist of: the introduction of energy-saving equipment, the promotion of alternative fuels (AFs) and the development of lower-CO₂ cements, accounting for a minimum 15% reduction; development and introduction of new technologies to the production process, targeting especially indirect emissions by modernising energy sources, accounting for a minimum 15% reduction; assumption of future technologies, accounting for a minimum 50% reduction.

Mexico: Cemex has shared its 2019 sustainability achievements in an integrated report entitled ‘Innovating for a Better World,’ which analyses the company’s strategic vision, operational performance and corporate governance against its commitment to drive innovation in the cement sector. Throughout the year, the company introduced its new Climate Action strategy to reduce CO2 emissions by 35% by 2030 and established an ambition to deliver net-zero CO2 concrete by 2050. It achieved an alternative fuel substitution rate of 28%, its highest since 2014, bringing its net specific CO2 emissions per tonne of cementitious product to 624kg.

Cemex’s net income was US$179m in 2019, down by 69% year-on-year from US$570m in 2018. Its sales declined by 8%, to US$4.3bn from US$4.7bn

Sri Lanka: Norochcholai Coal Power Plant (NCPP) is courting buyers for its fly ash, of which it says it produces US$5.5m-worth annually. In 2019 NCPP sold US$3.3m to Sri Lankan cement producers. Daily News Sri Lanka has reported that the company has undertaken measures to increase the value of the fly ash to cement producers, in order to obtain a higher price. NCPP manager Indrasiri Gallage said, "By selling fly ash to cement producers the plant has also helped to free the country from reliance on clinker imports."

An expansion, including the installation of a new 300MW coal-fired power plant, will eventually bring the NCPP’s capacity to 1200MW. The plant is currently working to increase the value of its bottom ash for paving block production.

Algeria: Public Industrial Cement Group of Algeria (GICA) subsidiary Beni Saf has announced a target of 45,000t in 2020 of clinker exported to Africa. Algérie Presse Service has reported that the recipient countries include those in the sub-Saharan region.

Ireland: CRH recorded sales of Euro28.3bn in 2019, up by 6% year-on-year from Euro26.7bn in 2018. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 25% year-on-year to Euro4.20bn from Euro3.36bn. The company said that the results were supported by a positive demand backdrop in the Americas and in key regions in Europe. It also set out a new CO₂ emissions roadmap with target of 520kg/t of cement by 2030, a 33% reduction compared to 1990 levels.

Switzerland: LafargeHolcim has announced a Euro1.95bn profit in 2019, up by 32% from Euro1.48bn in 2018. The profit was a company record, made possible by ‘lower restructuring costs and financial expenses,’ according to LafargeHolcim CEO Jan Jenisch. Sales were Euro25.1bn, up by 3.1% from Euro24.4bn, ‘driven by good growth in Europe and North America, good price dynamics across all business segments and higher prices in most markets,’ according to Jenisch. “We have achieved all our targets for 2019 and have moved our company to a new level of performance,” he said.

Belgium: Cembureau, the European Cement Association, says it will undertake a review of the targets set out in its 2050 Low Carbon Roadmap (2013/2018) in order to align the industry’s efforts with the carbon neutrality objectives contained in the European Green Deal published in December 2019. Following this reassessment, the association says it publish a revised low-carbon roadmap setting out the key role of cement and concrete in the circular economy and a path to achieving carbon neutrality along its value chain in Europe by 2050. Cembureau expects the revised roadmap to be published in early spring 2020.

“As an industry we are determined to ensure that we play our part in helping Europe to meet its emissions reduction targets. With concrete, our industry has a sustainable building material that is uniquely positioned as an essential enabler of the transition to a carbon neutral society,” said Cembureau’s president Raoul de Parisot.

US: The Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTI), a joint initiative of CDP, the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), the World Resources Institute (WRI) and WWF, has described Switzerland-based LafargeHolcim’s CO₂ reduction targets as ‘adequate’ and ‘consistent with efforts agreed upon at the COP21 World Climate Conference in Paris.’ These are aimed at preventing global temperatures from rising by 2°C.

LafargeHolcim has committed to a 10% reduction in emissions from kiln and pre-heater fuel to 520kg of CO₂ per tonne of cement in 2030 compared to 576kg/t in 2018. Over the same period it will reduce its indirect emissions from electricity consumption by 65%.