US: LafargeHolcim subsidiary Holcim US has opened a 10MW solar power plant at its Hagerstown, Maryland cement plant in partnership with Greenbacker Renewable Energy Company. The producer says that the power plant will supply 25% of the cement plant’s energy needs, reducing its carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions by 12,400t/yr.

LafargeHolcim cement US operations chief executive officer (CEO) Jamie Gentoso said, “As solar technologies continue to improve, this abundant energy source stands out as both a sustainable and economical solution to follow through on our commitment to minimise emissions and reduce our carbon footprint. We already have access to large areas of land with a high concentration of sunlight, so utilising solar energy is an easy decision. As we strive toward becoming a net-zero company, clean energy is a key part of our strategy. We hope to install enough renewable energy to power all of our plants and give back to the surrounding communities by 2026; this new solar array is just the beginning for us.”

Portugal: Germany-based ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions has announced its appointment by Secil for modernisation of its 2.0Mt/yr Outão integrated cement plant. The supplier says that it will, “modify the existing rotary kiln and preheater tower, install a new AS-MSC calciner equipped with a Prepol SC-S calcining system to increase fuel flexibility and maximise the use of a wide range of alternative fuels (AF) with a minimum substitution rate of 85%.”

Additionally, a new Polytrack 7T/5-3R grate cooler, including a new cooler dedusting system, will replace the existing planetary cooler. The upgrade aims to “bring the plant to the highest energy efficiency, low nitrous oxides (NO_x) and the lowest carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions among European cement producers” and is partly funded by the Portuguese government.

ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions chief executive officer (CEO) Samir Abi Ramia said, “This project marks a milestone for our Grey2Green initiative and is proof of the rising demand for green technologies in the cement industry. Secil is aware of the stakes for tomorrow and beyond and places great value on sustainability. With our energy-saving and emissions-reducing technologies, we are proud to play our part in the transition towards carbon-neutral cement production.” He added, “Secil can be confident that, with this investment, its Outão plant will rank among the top 10% of efficient cement plants in Europe.”

US: The North Dakota Department of Transportation (NDDOT) has signed a contract with drone supplier Botlink InSite to serve its drone surveying and mapping needs for management of aggregates used in building transport infrastructure.

Chief executive officer (CEO) Terri Zimmerman said, “We’re excited to add the NDDOT to our ever-growing list of customers. Our users see real cost savings by quickly getting accurate data, including reducing overproduction and underproduction.” She added that the drones can also serve cement companies in managing their raw materials stores.

US: The Wildlife Habitat Council has named Cemex USA the winner of the Corporate Conservation Leadership Award 2020. The award signifies “an exemplary corporate commitment to biodiversity and conservation education, and meaningful alignments with global conservation objectives.”

Director of Sustainability Vicente Saiso said, “We are privileged to receive the Corporate Conservation Leadership Award from the Wildlife Habitat Council. This recognition is testimony to our successful efforts and fosters our commitment to continue embedding sustainability in every aspect of our operations. To date, we have achieved certification for 30 programmes and community environmental initiatives in our operations around the world, with the highest standards of environmental conservation and biodiversity restoration.”

Projects include collaborations in the US and further afield with the California State Wildlife Action Plan, the Friends of Verde River Cooperative Invasive Plant Management Plan, BirdLife International, the El Carmen Nature Reserve Action Programme and a black bear research initiative, as well as the Mexican Strategy for Chihuahuan Grasslands Conservation, the Dominican Republic National Annual Plan and Panama's Alliance for a Million Hectares.

Indonesia: Semen Indonesia has said that it expects a 14% year-on-year decline in domestic cement demand to 50Mt in 2020 from 58Mt in 2019. The Jakarta Post newspaper has reported that the coronavirus outbreak was the primary cause of a 7.7% first-half decline in cement consumption to 27Mt from 29Mt.

Marketing and supply chain director Adi Munandir said, “Our projection is based on the delay in private construction projects and the government’s infrastructure development as a result of the Covid-19 crisis. This has caused demand to slump by 8.8% in July 2020, and we expect this slump to continue to the end of the year.” He noted the retail housing market as a potential sales boost, saying, “We saw an uptick in cement bag sales during the first half of 2020, as home renovations rose due to the pandemic.”

France: The council of Paris has voted to withdraw permissions for a planned expansion to LafargeHolcim subsidiary Lafarge France’s Bercy concrete plant after protesters captured footage of a slurry spill that the company called ‘exceptional.’

Finanznachrichten News has reported that the council also voted to launch a “mission to reassess cement and building materials production by 2040” to preserve the local environment, as a result of which it expects the city to shift its reliance to imports of cement and concrete from surrounding areas.

Philippines: LafargeHolcim subsidiary Holcim Philippines has launched a new social media marketing campaign for its flagship general purpose Excel brand cement. The Business Mirror newspaper has reported that the campaign uses the words “support and lift” in relation to the attributes consumers most associate with Excel cement.

The company said, “Holcim Philippines has sold over 1bn bags of Excel since 2000. This reflects the trust of local contractors, who in turn have used this to build many of the things that benefit us today. This campaign is a reminder that Excel will continue to be reliable partner in building a better Philippines moving forward.”

US: The Portland Cement Association has launched greenercement.com, an informative website site dedicated to Portland Limestone Cement (PLC) applications and benefits. The organisation says that PLC’s 10% reduced carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions when compared with Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) make it the sustainable choice for innovative construction.

President and chief executive officer (CEO) Mike Ireland said, “PLC is another example of the cement industry evolving over the years, continuing to innovate and sustainably producing the high-quality cement that is needed to help keep America’s infrastructure strong and resilient.” He added, “This initiative will help educate engineers and other specifiers on how PLC can easily be incorporated into numerous projects.”

Çimsa and its parent company Sabancı Holding renewed their ambition to become a global leader in the global white cement market this week with the formation of Cimsa Sabanci Cement. The new subsidiary brings together most of Çimsa’s international white cement companies including Cimsa Americas Cement Manufacturing and Sales Corporation in the US, Cimsa Cement Sales North in Germany, Cimsa Cementos Espana in Spain and Cimsa Adriatico in Italy. Notably, the new entity does not include businesses in Romania and Russia or at home in Turkey. The move coincides with regulatory approval from the Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia (CNMC) for Çimsa’s purchase of Cemex’s white cement business in Spain, including its integrated Buñol white cement plant, for around US$180m, which was first announced in March 2019.

The acquisition in Spain came with conditions though since Çimsa has now become the market leader in both bagged and bulk white cement locally, with a combined share of over 50% in the case of bulk white cement. Firstly, Çimsa has agreed to give Cementos Molins the rights to use its silo in Alicante along with a customer list over the last three years. Secondly, it has agreed to supply all its customers previously supplied from a silo in Seville from one in Motril instead for two years. The Motril terminal was purchased from Cemex. The idea here is to give Cementos Molins time to establish itself in the new market and for customers in the south of Spain to find alternative white cement suppliers if they want to. The latter condition was enough for the CNMC to approve the Cemex purchase in Spain. It was proposed on 24 September 2020 and then approved by the end of the month.

The wider picture is that Çimsa has been playing up its ambitions in white cement for a while now. At the time that the acquisition in Spain was announced, Tamer Saka, the president of Sabancı Holding Cement Group and chairman of Çimsa said, “With the integration of the Buñol white cement plant to our production and distribution networks, we will increase our white cement production capacity by 40%, translating into Çimsa becoming the world's largest white cement company.” This compares to Cementir’s self-declared world share of around 27% white cement production capacity, through its Aalborg White brand and others. Other recent developments at Çimsa include the commissioning of a 0.35Mt/yr white cement grinding plant in Houston, Texas by Cimsa Americas Cement Manufacturing and Sales Corporation in July 2019 with commercial sales starting later that year.

Back home in Turkey the domestic grey cement industry has faced difficulties in the last few years as the economy suffered, the capacity utilisation rate fell, competition increased in export markets and then coronavirus-related lockdowns caused further stress this year. By contrast the world white cement market has remained quite buoyant over the last decade, rising by around 7% year-on-year to 21Mt in 2018 and then remaining at a similar level in 2019.

HeidelbergCement memorably described white cement as a “niche product” when it left the scene in 2018 by selling its remaining shares in Lehigh White Cement in the US to Cementir. It has faced problems of its own this week with the decision by the European General Court (EGC) to uphold the European Commission’s (EC) previous ruling in 2017 to block a proposed takeover of Cemex Croatia by HeidelbergCement and Schwenk Zement. Funnily enough, that acquisition also revolved around a cement terminal. In this case the EC didn’t think that the offer by the potential buyers to grant access to a cement terminal in Metković in southern Croatia would be enough to assuage concerns about reduced competition following the transaction. Some you win, some you lose.

UK: Breedon Group plans to appoint Rob Wood as its Group Chief Executive in 2021. He is currently the Group Finance Director. Recruitment for a new Group Finance Director is underway. This will follow the retirement of current head Pat Ward who has held the post since early 2016.