Germany: Cemex Deutschland has partnered with recycling service provider Alba to construct a new biochar production facility at its Rüdersdorf cement plant in Brandenburg. Named ALCE, the project will utilise biogenic waste to produce biochar, aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cement production. This initiative is part of the Carbon Neutral Alliance, targeting carbon neutral cement production at Rüdersdorf by 2030.

Tanzania/Kenya: Tanzania-based Amsons Group has made a significant US$180m bid to acquire the entire stake of Kenya's Bamburi Cement. The group said on 11 July 2024 that it has made a binding offer with Bamburi Cement, according to The East African newspaper. The offer includes a premium of 44.4% over Bamburi's last closing share price.

Managing Director of Amsons Group, Edha Nahdi said "We have great plans to deepen our investment in Kenya and in Bamburi. Our offer to acquire shares in Bamburi is part of our corporate market expansion plan and will mark the formal entry of Amsons Group into the Kenyan market, where we plan to make investments in other industries in the coming months."

Mexico: Cementos Moctezuma recorded a 20.8% increase in revenues to US$1.1bn in 2023, according to its 2023 Integrated Annual Report. During the same period, the company invested more than US$37.2m in active projects, producing more than 7Mt of cement. The company also reported an earnings before interest, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of US$500m.

CEO José María Barroso said "2023 represented the opportunity to achieve continuous improvement in administrative, technical and commercial aspects, as well as through strategic alliances; all focused on cost reduction and sustainable efficiency."

South Korea: South Korean cement manufacturers recently convened at an event hosted by the Korea Cement Association and the Korea Industry Alliance Forum to discuss how to achieve carbon neutrality. The industry currently faces financial challenges in upgrading equipment due to low cement prices. However, it has achieved a 20% decrease in greenhouse gas emissions per tonne of cement since 2014, aided by the use of alternative fuels and investment in energy efficiency. The Korean government now requires that greenhouse gases be cut by 12% by 2023 from 2018 levels by 53% by 2050.

The industry currently uses post-consumer plastics as fuels instead of fossil fuels and incorporates byproducts from other industries, like sludge. However, some environmental groups have labelled cement made from industrial byproducts as ‘garbage cement’ claiming it contains hexavalent chromium levels more than four times the EU’s allowable limits. The use of plastics as alternative fuel has also sparked complaints from local waste collection and incineration companies, who argue that cement companies are taking away their business.

Professor Kim Jin-man from Kongju National University said "We also need to focus on developing high-performance clinker, advanced chemical admixtures for concrete, and accelerators that shorten concrete curing times."

Ukraine: The Ukrainian cement industry, represented by the Ukrcement Association, is urging the government to revise the recent changes in electricity import regulations under martial law. Following the increase from a 30% EU electricity import requirement to 80%, mandated by Resolution No. 661 on 1 June 2024, the industry faces heightened costs and technical challenges due to limited border crossing capacities.

The association said "Given that cement production is energy-intensive and it is the main component for military and civilian construction, we ask the Ukrainian government to return to the previous 30/70 proportion. This proportion will ensure reliable energy supply to industrial enterprises of Ukraine, which will help maintain the current pace of economic recovery in Ukraine in the face of military aggression by the Russian Federation."

The industry's proposals to mitigate the situation include reducing the minimum import share to 50%, enhancing interstate crossing capacities and revising the distribution of mandatory imported electricity purchases.

Italy: NovaAlgoma, a joint venture between the Italian-Swiss Nova Marine Carriers and Canada's Algoma Central Corporation, has announced the construction of the ‘world’s largest and greenest’ cement carrier, weighing 38,000t. This vessel will be built by Xinle Shipbuilding in China and delivered by the end of 2026. It will reportedly be the first to use both traditional fuel and methanol and can connect to electrical grids in ports to eliminate emissions, according to local news reports. Additionally, it will feature a waste heat recovery system that converts exhaust gases into 250kW of electrical energy.

Vincenzo Romeo, CEO of Nova Marine, said "This new construction, which meets the forecasts for the development of our fleet and the growth of cement market demand in the coming years, is intended to consolidate our positioning among the global leaders in cement transportation.”

Both Limak Çimento and Cemento Yura revealed plans to work with hydrogen this week. Additionally, Lhyfe and Fives signed a deal to sell decarbonised products and services to industries, including cement, covering hydrogen production to combustion.

Türkiye-based Limak Çimento said that it had successfully conducted a hydrogen-enhanced alternative fuel test at its integrated Anka plant near Ankara. As part of the project it blended hydrogen with an alternative carbon-neutral fuel and then operated the plant’s kiln at a 50% substitution rate. The cement company says that the trial achieved a world first by feeding the hydrogen-enhanced fuel directly into the calciner instead of the main burner in the rotary kiln. According to local press, Air Liquide supplied grey hydrogen for the test, although this could be switched to green hydrogen in the future. As a reminder, ‘green’ hydrogen is produced by the electrolysis of water using renewable energy sources. ‘Grey’ hydrogen is made from steam reforming using fossil fuels.

Limak’s wider ambition is to use hydrogen-blended alternative fuels at all of its cement plants by 2030. By doing so it aspires to reduce its CO₂ emissions by 700,000t/yr. Its CEO Erkam Kocakerim remarked in mid-2023 that focusing on the carbon risks that energy-intensive industries might face exporting to the European Union (EU) paled in comparison to the potential payback from the green energy transition. At a climate change summit in mid-2023 organised by the United Nations and the Turkish government, he called for the Turkish Emission Trading System to be put into action as soon as possible, the creation of an updated renewable energy roadmap with renewable hydrogen, CCUS and renewable fuels, and the publication of a hydrogen and CO₂ country atlas. At the same time, he stated that the local cement sector could meet the EU’s 2030 emissions targets through the increased uptake of alternative fuels and blended cements.

Meanwhile in Peru this week Juan Carlos Burga, the general manager of Grupo Gloria subsidiary Cemento Yura, told the Gestión newspaper that its cement plant near Arequipa is preparing to start a green hydrogen trial in 2025. The catalyst for this is a solar power unit at the site that is currently scheduled for commissioning in early 2025. Once it is ready then the plant’s hydrogen project can use the renewable energy source to manufacture hydrogen and inject small quantities of it to stabilise the burning process and reduce the amount of coal used.

By contrast the memorandum of understanding that Lhyfe and Fives announced this week looks like the pair are marking their territory in the hydrogen supply and equipment chain for heavy industry. As part of the agreement the companies are targeting the metals, glass and cement industries and some other selected industrial heating processes and applications in Europe and North America. France-based Lhyfe develops, builds and runs green hydrogen production plants both for external clients and itself. It operates one plant at Bouin in France and is building other plants in France and Germany. However, the output of these sites is low. In spite of this, it says it is set to become the largest producer of renewable hydrogen in France in 2024. Fives, well known as a cement equipment supplier, says it has been a “technological leader in hydrogen for over 50 years” and that it sells “the widest range of hydrogen-proven burners available on the market to serve all industries.” The Lhyfe-Fives agreement follows a similar deal between Air Products and ThyssenKrupp Uhde Chlorine Engineers in 2020.

Projects in West Asia and South America such as those discussed by Limak Çimento and Cemento Yura are not necessarily where one might expect them to be. Typically all the sustainability news in the cement sector tends to be dominated by companies in Europe and North America. This is reflected in the continents that Lhyfe and Fives have targeted this week. Yet, the focus by Limak and Yura on hydrogen suggests that these companies are hunting for decarbonisation options that are cost effective ahead of potential legislative enforcement. Both appear to be using hydrogen as a fuel enhancer or additive rather than on its own.

We have reported upon a steady stream of hydrogen projects for the cement sector in the last year. These include Heidelberg Materials' study looking at using ammonia as a hydrogen source for fuelling cement kilns at its Ribblesdale cement plant in the UK, Fives work with Holcim at the La Malle plant in France and much work by Cemex such as the increase of its stake in green hydrogen production technology developer HiiROC in late 2023. As with Global Cement Weekly’s previous reporting on hydrogen, the jury is still out on whether it is a ‘goer’ for heavy industry at scale. An executive at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries told a conference in March 2024 that the infrastructure investment to support the use of hydrogen would cost over US$1Tn in the US and Europe alone. The head of Saudi Aramco then pointed out at the same event that oil and gas, for now at least, cost far less than hydrogen. Despite this, the projects keep coming.

Mexico: The National Cement Chamber (CANACEM) has appointed Julio Cedeño as its General Director. He previously worked as the Director of Institutional Relations for the Camara Nacional de la Industria del Hierro y del Acero (CANCERO), an organisation representing the steel sector in Mexico. Cedeño is a graduate of the Universidad Iberoamericana in Political Science and Public Administration.

CANACEM represents the six cement companies in Mexico: Cementos Moctezuma, Cemento Cruz Azul, Cemex México, Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua, Holcim México and Cementos Fortaleza. 35 cement plants operate in the country producing nearly 47Mt/yr of cement and employing over 26,500 people. The organisation was originally founded in 1948.

India: Saurashtra Cement has appointed Pradeep Mehta as its chief financial officer (CFO). He will succeed Virendra Raj Mohnot in the post, who is retiring, with effect from 9 September 2024.

Mehta has worked in corporate finance roles for nearly 30 years most recently as the President-CFO of Garware High-Tech Films. He also worked as the CFO of Arihant Superstructures and has held finance positions with Mabati Rolling Mills, Jindal Steel and Power Global Ventures, Essar Steel, Jindal Power and Grasim industries. He holds an undergraduate degree in mathematics and is a registered chartered accountant.

Bangladesh: Bengal Cement has appointed Khandker Ataur Rahman Rifat as its chief operating officer. He has been working as the Group Chief Marketing Officer for Metrocem Group since 2019, according to the Business Standard newspaper. Prior to this Rifat, held roles with Hyundai Cement, Cemex, Meghna Group, LafargeHolcim Bangladesh and Aman Cement dating back to the mid-1990s. He holds a PhD in social science and business and a master of business administration qualification from the University of Dhaka.