Zimbabwe: Government capital controls are delaying the handover of a new vertical cement mill ordered from China-based CBMI to Lafarge Zimbabwe. The cement producer still owes the supplier US$5.2m but has been unable to make the payment due to economic measures the government has taken to avoid depreciation of the local currency, according to the The Insider newspaper. The subsidiary of Switzerland-based Holcim is unable to obtain a certificate of completion from the supplier until the transaction has been completed. CBMI handled the order and Germany-based Gebr. Pfeiffer supplied the mill. The outstanding debt to CBMI may also delay Holcim’s deal to sell Lafarge Zimbabwe to Fossil Mining, which was announced in June 2022.

Greece: Titan Cement has launched CemAI, a subsidiary company that will supply predictive maintenance products based on artificial intelligence for the cement industry. It will use a mixture of a proprietary licensed software and a continuous monitoring and incident resolution service for entire cement manufacturing lines across the world.

Titan Cement has already used the service that CemAI supplies at several of its own plants around the world. It is intended to help cement companies maximise the operational efficiency and reliability of their plants while making their processes more efficient and cost effective. It uses machine learning technology that processes the operating data of entire cement plants in real time. This generates alerts that are analysed by a team of experts in cement operations, working in close collaboration with plant’s operational teams, to resolve issues before they affect operations. CemAI works through remote monitoring centres that collect and analyse the data stream from plant sensors continuously

Chile: Cbb has reported a profit of US$2m for the period January - June 2022, which represents a decrease of 74% year-on-year compared US$7.9m during the same period in 2021. The decrease came despite a 15.3% increase in revenues, which rose to US$169m. The company said that the difference could be mainly explained by lower margins from increased distribution costs and administration expenses.

UK: Hoffmann Green Cement Technologies, a French company that manufactures and distributes low-CO₂ clinker-free cement, has announced that it has signed its first partnership agreement in the UK with Cemblend, a supplier of customised cement powder mixes.

Hoffmann Green will supply Cemblend with its H-IONA, H-UKR and H-EVA clinker-free decarbonated cements for distribution to its customers in the UK and Ireland. This exclusive distribution agreement with volume commitments initially runs until the end of 2023 and is a first step towards the signature of a licensing agreement which could see Cemblend build and operate a production unit similar to Hoffmann Green's French production facilities.
Julien Blanchard and David Hoffmann, co-founders of Hoffmann Green Cement Technologies said, "We are pursuing the milestones of our international development with the signing of this structuring partnership in a strategic market in Europe. This first distribution contract in the UK is further proof of the attractiveness of our low-carbon solutions outside our borders. It is a first step in our cooperation process with Cemblend to build eco-responsible buildings across the Channel."

Egypt: Private investor Sadiq Ahmed Sadiq El Sewedy has enlarged their stake in Arabian Cement to 11% from 9.5%. The investor paid US$1.6m for the additional shares. Al Ahly Pharos and EFG Hermes Holding provided brokerage services for the deal.

Arabian Cement recorded a profit of US$6.17m in the first half of 2022, compared to a US$1.2m loss in the first half of 2021.

Cyprus: Cyprus Cement has informed the Cyprus Stock Exchange that it has reduced its issued share capital by 14% to Euro50.9m from Euro59.2m. The company will return Euro8.26m in cash to investors.

Zimbabwe: Part of Lafarge Zimbabwe’s approved US$25m capital expenditure investments will go towards further expanding the company’s cement capacity in order to meet local demand. The company also plans to establish a new dry mortars plant. Lafarge Zimbabwe is on track to commission a new vertical roller mill at its Manresa grinding plant in early 2023. Lafarge Zimbabwe’s chief executive officer Geoffrey Ndugwa said, “The overall market demand continues to grow, driven by the segment of individual home builders as well as the ongoing major government infrastructure development projects. The company is confident that volumes will recover and grow as the availability of cement stabilises.”

India: Gujarat Sidhee Cement again closed its Sidheegram cement plant on 11 September 2022. The producer says that the temporary suspension of production will last until 1 October 2022.

Philippines: Holcim Philippines has signed a deal to receive 6.5t/yr of shredded waste from Bunawan municipality’s Panacan barangay for co-processing as alternative fuel (AF) in its cement production. SeeNews has reported that Holcim’s waste management subsidiary GeoCycle will process the AF. The partners aim to increase the volume of deliveries in future.

Davao cement plant manager Sam Manlosa said, “We are proud to provide our host barangay Panacan a sustainable waste management solution and thankful for their trust. We hope this partnership will further expand to other communities and the entire city of Davao so we can be a stronger partner in its sustainable progress.”

Panacan is the 28th community throughout the Philippines to enter into a waste management partnership with Holcim Philippines, and its 18th new partner in 2022. In August 2022, the company secured deliveries of waste collected in Bulacan province’s Binangonan, Cainta and Taytay municipalities in Rizal province for co-processing at its Bulacan cement plant.

India: ACC and Ambuja Cements shareholders tendered some of their shares under a US$3.8bn open offer by Adani Group for a further 26% stake in each company. The offer closed on 9 September 2022, and the group secured ownership of a further 2.2% stake in ACC and a further 0.4% stake in Ambuja Cements.

Adani Group agreed to acquire Switzerland-based Holcim’s 50% ACC stake and 63% Ambuja Cements stake for US$10.5bn in May 2022.