Germany: Currax and Siemens have announced their collaboration on a mill operations digitisation pilot project involving the Simotics Connect 400 motor data collector and transmitter. They hope that analysis of data processed via the Simotics 400 will better enable the remote operating of mills ‘to increase efficiency and component life’ and speeding the shift towards automation and production that is resilient to crises such as the coronavirus outbreak.

Spain: Oficemen, the Spanish cement industry association, has joined other voices in the construction sector to advocate for the continuation of construction works, including infrastructure projects, during the coronavirus outbreak. According to the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, "The closure of the works is not obligatory, as this activity has not been expressly suspended." However, increasing numbers of local authorities are stopping them, including those in Barcelona, which has ordered the closure of all building work in the city, both public and private.

Oficemen's president, Víctor García Brossa, argued, "Once the service sector is paralysed, construction becomes one of the main pillars of the Spanish economy" asserting that its work is "of the utmost importance… to prepare our country for the way out of this crisis." Regardless of whether works can officially continue or not, García Brossa has confirmed that the current situation predicts a ‘sharp short-term drop’ in cement consumption.

In February 2020, cement consumption in Spain fell by 0.5% year-on-year to 1.17Mt, about 5500t less than in February 2019, according to Oficemen’s latest data. This represented the fourth consecutive month of falls, although in year-on-year terms (from March 2019 to February 2020) consumption increased by 3.9%.

Exports continued their dire performance, falling for the 33rd consecutive month. A decrease of 31.4% month-on-month was seen in February 2020, which was down by 24.2% year-on-year compared to February 2019.

Germany: HeidelbergCement started the new year better than ever before, according to chief executive officer (CEO) Dominik von Achten. He reported that this had been mainly due to good weather before the onset of the coronavirus outbreak. Von Achten warned that the situation had already changed beyond recognition since mid-February 2020 for the multinational.

He said that the coronavirus outbreak had not only caused plants to be closed, either by enforcement or due to a lack of demand, but because migrant workers are unable to travel to construction sites. For example, workers from Eastern Europe are increasingly lacking in Western Europe. In Indonesia, a market that is important for HeidelbergCement, the lack of Chinese construction workers is stark, as they remain confined to their home country.

According to Von Achten, HeidelbergCement is now paying particular attention to its costs, has deferred all unnecessary investments and has considerable liquidity leeway. He added that the group is likely to benefit significantly from lower fuel costs as conditions improve over the course of 2020. HeidelbergCement is currently particularly affected in Lombardy, where its Italcementi subsidiary has its headquarters. HeidelbergCement has shut down its factories in Italy and imposed a freeze on hiring and non-essential spending. "You can see it's hitting the world like a wave," says Von Achten. "It's a tough test."

China: China Shanshi Cement Group has reported that its profit was US$420m in 2019, a rise of 35.3% year-on-year compared to 2018.

North Korea: Local press says that the Sangwon Cement Complex in North Hwanghae Province has reported an upsurge in production, apparently making a record 10,000t/month of cement, its highest production level ever.

Chief engineer Yun Song Chol was quoted as saying that this had been made possible by ‘prioritising science and technology’ and ensuring the operation of equipment ‘at full capacity in accordance with the completion of modernisation at the end of 2019.’ Following the works, the line was reportedly commissioned in just a week.

Nigeria: Dangote Cement has donated cement worth US$270,000 to the Lagos State government to support the ongoing reconstruction process at the Abule-Ado site in Amuwo-Odofin Local Government area, which was affected by a deadly pipeline explosion on 15 March 2020. The donation was made by the chairman of Dangote Cement, Aliko Dangote, represented by the company’s Independent Non-Executive Director Emmanuel Ikazoboh.

Nigeria: BUA Group has announced its acquisition of a majority shareholding in PW Nigeria, one of Nigeria’s leading construction, engineering and mining companies. According to BUA, this was necessary to further deepen its investments in the infrastructure business in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Speaking on the acquisition, Abdul Samad Rabiu, executive chairman of BUA Group, said, “This acquisition marks the beginning of the next phase of our medium term strategy for our infrastructure business following the completion of the consolidation of our cement arm, BUA Cement in January 2020. BUA’s acquisition of majority holdings in PW Nigeria provides a prime opportunity to increase our investments in the entire value chain of the cement, mining and construction sector. We believe PW Nigeria, with its solid experience in building dams, roads, airports, water projects and other infrastructure projects in Nigeria, provided a strong value proposition too difficult to ignore.”

Armenia: The Armenian government has announced that it plans to extend the duration of state duties on cement imported from Iran and several other countries until 1 July 2020. The decision was made on the basis of analysis that confirmed an extension of the customs duties was appropriate. The government said that it would continue to monitor the situation.

According to the RA Statistical Committee Armenia produced 0.59Mt of cement in 2019, 8.1% more than in 2018. The RA Customs Service reported that the country imported 0.31Mt in 2019, a year-on-year increase of 70.5%.

EU: The coronavirus has caused emissions credits sold under the Emissions Trading Scheme to take a price dive to Euro16.31/t of CO₂ on 19 March 2020, down by 36% month-on-month from Euro25.66/t on 19 February 2020 and 22% year-on-year from Euro21.01/t on 19 March 2020. Environmental consultancy firm Energy Aspects said, “As the COVID-19 outbreak is now spreading rapidly in Europe, it will start to reduce emissions as lockdowns are put in place in multiple countries,” according to Reuters. The European Commission has forecasted a 1.0% contraction in the EU economy in 2020, revising its February estimate of 1.4% growth year-on-year. This would correspond to a reduction in industrial CO₂ emissions of between 10.0Mt and 20.0Mt by the end of year.

World: Suppliers are taking all necessary measures to ensure the continued supply of equipment and services to cement industry customers the world over during the coronavirus crisis. US-based Webster and Germany-based Starlinger have both cut travel and limited face-to-face meetings to reduce the virus’ impact on the supply chain. Austria-based RHI Magnesita has established regional task forces consisting of members of various departments to monitor and react to the spread of coronavirus. FLSmidth, which is using its remote monitoring, maintenance and support software to avoid all but essential on-site work, said, “Cement is a vital, basic component in keeping societies functioning as normally as possible.”