Azerbaijan: Cement producers produced 0.91Mt of cement in the first quarter of 2020, down by 8.7% year-on-year from 1Mt in the first quarter of 2019. Ready-mix concrete production rose by 9.9% to 0.46Mt from 0.51Mt, while the total value of construction materials produced fell by 4.5% year-on-year to US$120m from US$126m. The decline was attributed to a decrease in demand due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Trinidad & Tobago: Trinidad Cement has said that it is celebrating 365 days without a loss time injury (LTI). The company said, “Our strict safety protocols implemented throughout our operations are paying off… by saving lives.”

Mexico: Cemex has said that new rules proposed by the Secretariat of Energy affecting subsidies for renewable power users will ‘adversely impact business.’ Noticias Financieras News has reported that as of 1 January 2020 Cemex had contracted for the supply of 918MW of renewable energy, 802MW (87%) of it in Mexico.

World: Cemex has said that it is part of a group of companies jointly launching Restarting Together - an initiative aimed a reinvigorating the economy in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. It says that the initiative aims, “to find innovative projects that seek to expedite the return to normality after the confinement period.” It added, “This initiative also looks to identify projects to boost economic recovery in a sustainable way, aimed specially at improving employment, revitalising the ecosystem of small businesses, and creating networks and financial aid mechanisms for crisis situations.”

Restarting Together is welcoming innovative project proposals from the public until 30 June 2020. The criteria on which proposals will be assessed are their ‘social and economic impact, feasibility, rapid implementation time, and degree of sustainability and innovation.’

India: Nagarjuna Cement, a cement brand produced by NCL Industries, has signed the film star Varun Tej Konidela as its brand ambassador. The performer from Telugu language cinema will feature in a new song as well as in television commercials which will be launched by Nagarjuna Cement as part of its upcoming campaign that aims to connect with a broader demographic, according to the United News of India. Initiatives on radio, social media and other media channels will accompany the campaign.

Russia: Vostokcement has announced that it and its subsidiaries Spasskcement, Teploozerskcement and Yakutcement will resume the ordinary supply of building products to customers from 1 June 2020.

Vostokcement said, “The company’s offices carefully monitor the implementation of security measures in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic. The rooms are equipped with lamps for air disinfection, contactless thermometers have been purchased and information stands are installed. Employees are fully provided with personal protective equipment - medical masks and gloves, hand antiseptics and indoor disinfectants.”

Canada: The Cement Association of Canada (CAC) and Rediscover Concrete have issued a joint declaration to the federal government in which they urge it to absorb the costs of state infrastructure projects and put construction ‘at the core of the COVID-19 recovery plan.’

CAC president and chief executive officer (CEO) Michael McSweeney said, “A successful economic recovery will require a commitment to use time-sensitive infrastructure spending. We have a very short construction season in Canada and municipalities have lost much of their financial capacity to fund important infrastructure projects this year. We need the federal government to help municipalities get local community infrastructure projects going to boost economic activity and public confidence.”

Germany: Beumer Group says it is supporting logistics start-up Sparrow Networks with its Beam spin-off company. Sparrow Networks consists of a spare parts pool of interconnected cement industry players. Customers can access the inventory on Sparrow Networks’ digital marketplace. Beam is a Berlin-based start-up company builder, supported by Beumer Group, that focuses on logistics and technical challenges.

France: A car magazine chose Ciments Calcia’s 2Mt/yr Gargenville, île-de-France integrated cement plant as the backdrop for a photo shoot. The shoot featured models produced by Germany-based Audi, BMW, Daimler and Porsche. Ciments Calcia said that it was, “an opportunity for employees present to discover these exceptional machines. A good time was had by all.”

Russia: Eurocement has announced the completion of Phase 2 of an upgrade project at its 2.4Mt/yr integrated Pikalevsky Cement plant. Following the modernisation of the grinding unit in the first phase of the upgrade in August 2019 at a cost of US$2.14m, Phase 2 work consisted of an expansion to ‘the assortment of high-quality products,’ including ‘large-scale construction and installation, reconstruction of air supply and aspiration systems and power supply and repair of existing buildings and structures’ at a total cost of US$2.86m. Eurocement completed the upgrade without any downtime to the existing lines.

Pikalevsky Cement director general Andrei Vashchilov said, “We have tested the new cement. The activity of cement at the age of 28 days increased by an average of  10MPa, which allows for cost-optimised concrete production. The modernisation also enabled the improvement and stabilisation of another important indicator - water separation.