Spain: The Climate Action Ministry of the Catalonian government has granted an environmental authorisation to Holcim España's 0.9Mt/yr Montcada i Reixac cement plant. The authorisation includes an environmental impact statement for the plant's activities. The Expansión newspaper has reported that the documentation brings the Montcada i Reixac cement plant in line with court rulings, which had found in favour of the Montcada i Reixac city council in ruling that the plant did not have the proper certification to continue operations.

Holcim España employs 327 people at the cement plant, which serves the market in and around Barcelona.

India: Credit rating agency Crisil expects the Indian cement sector's capacity to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4 - 5% over the four-year period up to the end of the 2027 financial year on 31 March 2027. It would thus begin the 2028 financial year at 715 - 725Mt/yr in installed capacity, compared to 570Mt/yr at the end of the 2023 financial year. The industry's total investment in the expansion is expected to be US$14.5bn. Major multi-state producers are expected to contribute over US$7.25bn (50%) of investments towards the total sum.

Over the same period, Crisil expects all-India cement demand to rise at a CAGR of 6 - 7%.

Jamaica: Local investor Mark Hart plans to establish a new cement terminal at Montego Bay, St James. Hart plans to invest US$8m in the terminal's construction. The Jamaica Observer newspaper has reported that construction will commence later in 2023. Once operational, the terminal will supply local roadbuilding and hotel, home and hospital construction. Current projects in this vein include a widening of the North Coast Highway and construction of the Montego Bay perimeter road and Runaway Bay and Discovery Bay bypasses, worth a total US$274.5m, and of new hotels with a total of 20,000 rooms.

Buying House Cement operates the only existing cement terminal in Montego Bay. The company imports cement produced in the Dominican Republic by Domicem. It currently serves 10% of Jamaica's demand. Hart is chair of Cargo House Handlers, which holds a 30% stake in the importer.

Hart said " We have highways, we have hotels, we have the hospitals being built in the west, we have a lot of housing projects. The government has a very ambitious plan to provide a lot of housing units. And all these things rely on stable, well-priced cement." He continued "We are proposing to offer an alternative to the one supplier that exists so that they have stability of supply and stability of pricing for the customers, so that the construction industry can continue to do what they do."

Mexico: US-based Vulcan Materials has accused Cemex of illegally entering and unloading materials at its Punta Venado terminal in Quintana Roo. Vulcan Materials' subsidiary Sac-Tun operates the terminal, which serves its nearby Playa del Carmen quarry. Sac-Tun previously provided handling and unloading services at the terminal for Cemex, under a contract which expired on 31 December 2022. A local court ruled in favour of Cemex in the dispute over its continued use of the facilities on 5 March 2023. A high court intervened with an injunction in favour of Vulcan Materials on 16 March 2023.

Vulcan Materials now plans to take further legal action, according to Forbes. It is currently engaged in another legal dispute against the Mexican government for the latter's refusal to renew Sac-Tun's licence to operate the Playa del Carmen quarry. The producer is seeking damages of US$78.9m. The government said that the quarry had ceased to operate in line with requirements under its environmental impact licence and local land use plans.

South Africa: PPC has forecast a drop in its cement sales volumes during the 2023 financial year, which will end on 31 March 2023. It says that its South African sales will drop by 4%, and its Botswanan sales by 7%. In the first half of the financial year, sales dropped by 2.6% year-on-year. PPC now says that disruptions at South African ports will likely limit the decline in its sales volumes in its home country by reducing competition from imports. South Africa imported 30% of cement consumed during the 2022 financial year, however congestion at ports and currency effects have kept this figure from rising throughout the present financial year.

PPC's CEO Roland van Wijnen said "Rising input costs and the objective of maintaining our market share continue to cause margin pressure." The group now expects to reduce its debt by 28 - 33% to US$39.5 - 42.2m in the 2023 financial year.

UK: The UK government has committed to investments worth Euro22.8bn in early deployments of carbon capture technology. It will announce a shortlist of new projects for deployment later in March 2022.

The government said "This unprecedented level of funding for the sector will unlock private investment and job creation across the UK, particularly on the east coast and in the North West of England and North Wales. It will also kick-start the delivery of subsequent phases of this new sustainable industry in the UK."

Ireland-based Ecocem responded to the budget with a call for funding for more short-term areas besides carbon capture. It said these will be essential in order for the UK cement and concrete industry to reach its 45% decarbonisation target by 2030. The slag-based cement products company called for funding for low-clinker technologies which have already been developed and can be rolled out at scale before 2030, until carbon capture becomes a 'scalable, viable option.'

India: JK Cement plans to issue US$12.2m-worth of bonds with a five-year maturity. Reuters has reported that the producer will receive bids from 20 March 2023.

Vietnam: The Vietnam Cement Association (VCA) has urged the government to stop issuing licences for the construction of new cement plants. Capacity is currently projected to reach 121Mt/yr in 2023, 188% of an estimated consumption of 64.3Mt domestically this year.

VCA chair Nguyen Quang Cung said “We must be careful to maintain a balance between regional supply and demand. As a result of the severe overstock in the north, it is crucial to encourage cement producers in the south to spend more on increasing clinker production capacity." Cung added "This will minimise the environmental effects of shipping clinker between the north and south.”

Algeria: Groupe des Ciments d'Algéries (GICA) says that it exported 350,000t of clinker produced at its Chlef cement plant over the period between 1 January and 14 March 2023. Local press has reported that the producer aims to export a total of 2Mt of clinker throughout 2023. It is currently on track to reach 1.75Mt, 13% short of its target, but 17% greater than its 1.5Mt exported in 2022. The company despatched the clinker from the ports of Oran and Tenès, to customers in Africa, Europe and South and Central America. It would now like to begin delivering its clinker to Syria and Türkiye in order to help facilitate rebuilding efforts there in the wake of the catastrophic February 2023 earthquake.

Brazil: Votorantim Cimentos’ full-year sales were US$4.88bn in 2022, up by 16% year-on-year from 2021. Its earnings before interest, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) dropped by 6% to US$927m. Throughout the year, the group invested US$378m in expansions, modernisations and business support. Its cement volumes increased in North America, Spain and Tunisia. Revenues rose by 4% in North America and by 16% in Europe, Asia and Africa, but fell by 17% in Latin America.

Chief operating officer Osvaldo Ayres Filho said “We had another year of solid results, thanks to our discipline in the execution of our strategy and despite a global environment marked by high inflation, rising interest rates and the ongoing consequences of the war between Russia and Ukraine. Locally, household indebtedness and credit tightening affected investments in new construction and renovation projects, which impacted the domestic cement market. Despite that, we increased our investments focused on improving competitiveness, developed and launched new businesses, and expanded our operations in important markets, such as Spain. The company is stronger, more resilient and better prepared for opportunities and challenges.”