Romania: Holcim Romania plans to spend Euro10m on automation and digitisation upgrades to its plants. The project will focus on its integrated plants at Alesd and Compulung, according to the Ziarul Financiar newspaper. The subsidiary of LafargeHolcim operates three cement plants in the country.

Japan: UBE Machinery Corporation has signed a license agreement for the design, manufacture and commissioning of vertical roller mills for cement plants and related applications on exclusive basis with India’s AMCL Machinery for markets in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan. The deal was signed in late May 2019. This license agreement has been signed to explore ‘mutual cooperation and opportunities’ between UBE Machinery Corporation and AMCL Machinery.

AMCL Machinery is part of Hindusthan National Glass & Industries. It manufactures vertical roller pre-grinding mills for cement plants in India and the Middle East. It also produces rubber and tyre building machines for the local tyre industry.

Germany: HeidelbergCement’s specific CO₂ net emissions per tonne of cementitious material fell by 1.4% year-on-year to 599kg CO2/t in 2018 from 608kg CO₂/t in 2017. Despite this its absolute gross CO₂ emissions increased by 3% to 76.7Mt from 74.2Mt as clinker, cement, aggregate and concrete sales volumes all grew in 2018. The group has published the data in its Sustainability Report for the 2018 financial year.

“Cutting our CO₂ emissions and handling natural resources considerately are priorities for all our business lines,” says Bernd Scheifele, chairman of the managing board of HeidelbergCement. "We focus primarily on the development of sustainable products and the implementation of concrete measures at plant level in order to achieve our sustainability goals.” The company has set itself the target of a 30% reduction in its specific net CO₂ emissions per tonne of cement by 2030, compared with 1990. HeidelbergCement says it intends to realise its vision of CO₂-neutral concrete by 2050 at the latest.

Other figures of note in the report include an alternative fuels substitution rate of 21.7% in 2018 compared in 20.8% in 2017. NO_x, SO_x and particulate matter emissions all fell. However, total water withdrawal rose by 8% to 65.4Mm³ from 60.4Mm³ although water consumption fell.

Argentina: Holcim Argentina has signed a deal with YPF Luz for the supply of wind power to its cement plants. The supply agreement is planned for the start of 2020. It is intended to provide 35% of the company’s emergy requriements by the end of the first half. YPF Luz will provide eletectricity from its Los Teros Wind Farm at Azul in Buenos Aires province. The contracted supply is for 142GWh from a 30MW installed base.

Saudi Arabia: Tabuk Cement’s sales revenue grew by 29% year-on-year to US$30.4m in the first half of 2019 from US$23.5m in the same period in 2018. It attributed the sales growth to improved prices despite poor sales volumes. It reported a net profit after Zakat and tax of US$3.4m for the half, after a loss of US$0.27m in the first half of 2018.

Bosnia & Herzegovina: Tvornica Cementa Kakanj’s sales revenue fell by 9.7% year-on-year to Euro16.4m in the first half of 2019 from Euro18.3m in the same period in 2018. Its net profit dropped by 42% to Euro3m from Euro4.7m. The subsidiary of Germany’s HeidelbergCement operates an integrated cement plant at Kakanj.

Nepal: The Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology has imposed a range of quality control and certification measures upon the local cement sector. The changes are intended to improve the quality local products, according to the Kathmandu Post newspaper. The new rules include making it mandatory to include expiry dates on cement packaging. This should not be more than three months after the date of manufacture. A date for the implementation of the new rule has not been set yet.

The standards bureau has set up changes to allow domestic cement to be labelled under 33, 43 and 53 grades under government-set criteria. Previously, cement producers were free to label their own products. It has also requested that manufacturers laminate cement sacks according to new regulations.

Bangladesh: Bashundhara Industrial Complex will supply up to 45,000t of cement for the construction of a dual fuel-fired combined cycle power station at Meghnaghat in Narayanganj. It has signed a deal with China Energy Engineering Group Northeast No 1 Electric Power (NEPC) for the project. The power plant will have a net generation capacity of 590MW using regasified liquid natural gas or 541MW using high-speed diesel.

Germany: Holcim Deutschland has opened a new 110,000Mm³ ready-mixed concrete plant at Weil am Rhein in Baden-Württemberg. The unit was biult in nine months. It had an investment of around Euro4m. Lars Essert willl manage the plant.

US: Keystone Cement plans to convert its Bath cement plant in Pennsylvania to gas firing from coal. The project will cost US$2.2m, with a US$0.32m grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, according to the Express-Times newspaper. Gas supplier UGI Utilities will work with Keystone to install a new underground gas line from an existing substation to a new substation at the plant. The project is scheduled for competition by mid-2020.