Global Cement Newsletter

Issue: GCW717 / 09 July 2025

Headlines


Titan Group announced this week that it will build a processing and beneficiating unit for fly ash at Warrington in the UK. The move marks both a trend in fly ash projects in the UK recently and Titan’s own focus in the country.

Titan has struck a deal to use ponded fly ash at the former Fiddler’s Ferry power station in the North-West of England. It aims to process 300,000t/yr of wet fly ash from 2027 onwards with the option to double this capacity if desired. The processed fly ash will meet the BS EN 450 standard for subsequent use in cement or concrete. Crucially, Titan intends to use the technology of its subsidiary, ST Equipment & Technology (STET). This company has a proprietary dry electrostatic process that it uses for fly ash beneficiation. Titan acquired STET in 2002. It says its process is being used at 12 power stations in the US, Canada, the UK, Poland, and South Korea. The project at Fiddler’s Ferry will be the 20th fly ash project developed with STET technology.

Titan has not commented on the specifics of its arrangement with site-owner PEEL Group other than to describe it as a ‘long-term agreement.’ It currently operates a terminal in Hull, on the other side of the country, 160km from Warrington. As for Fiddler’s Ferry, the coal-fired power plant closed in 2020. Prior to this though RockTron Group built a 800,000t/yr unit at Fiddler’s Ferry to process both ‘fresh’ and stockpiled fly ash in the late 2000s. Unfortunately the company entered administration in 2013. Later, Power Minerals was reportedly selling fly ash from the plant at the time that its closure was announced in 2019. A report commissioned by consultants Arcadis for the local council reported that ash including pulverised fuel ash (PFA) was present in the lagoons at the site.

Other companies have also been looking at the fly ash market in the UK. Invicta, a joint venture between Türkiye-based Medcem and Brett Group opened a terminal at Sheerness in Kent in 2024 to import PFA and cement. In April 2025 a ship unloader supplied by Van Aalst was delivered to the port. Then in May 2025 it was announced that Mecem is planning to build a terminal in Liverpool to import cement and supplementary cementitious materials (SCM), such as fly ash and granulated blast furnace slag. The terminal will have a combined storage capacity of 45,000t in four silos in its initial phase and is scheduled for completion in mid-2026. Meanwhile, the Drax power station said in March 2025 that it had signed a 20-year joint venture agreement with Power Minerals to process legacy PFA. A unit at the now biomass power plant in Yorkshire is scheduled to start by the end of 2026 with an initial production capacity of 400,000t/yr.

The background to this interest in fly ash in the UK appears to be a local cement sector struggling with high energy costs and low capacity-utilisation rates. Reports in local media in late June 2025 cited preliminary estimates that cement output may have reached an ‘all-time low’ in 2024. High electricity prices were blamed for the situation by the Mineral Products Association (MPA) and it warned of mounting imports from the EU and North Africa. All of this was timed to coincide with a release of a new Industrial Strategy by the UK government. For more on the UK cement sector in general see Global Cement Weekly in May 2025 and Edwin Trout’s feature in the June 2025 issue of Global Cement Magazine.

Readers will be aware of the growing attractiveness of SCMs for cement and concrete production for both cutting costs and meeting sustainability goals. A report by McKinsey on SCMs for the cement sector in late 2024 forecast that SCMs and fillers in Europe could represent an emerging value pool that could reach €8 – 10bn in 2035 as the price of cement steadily rises. The SCMs being used are likely to change as sources of industrial SCMs such as slag and ash dwindle and others such as clays, pozzolans or limestone become more available. The UK may have closed its last coal-powered power plant in 2024 but ash from ponds can still be reclaimed or ash can be imported if the economics makes sense. Recent investments by Titan, Medcem and Power Minerals suggest that the price is indeed right. The interest of two major cement exporting companies amongst the three names above also indicates changing market dynamics. Expect more of these kinds of deals and investments in the UK, Europe and elsewhere in coming years.


Greece: Titan has appointed John Ioannou as its Group Chief Financial Officer (CFO). He will first join Titan as a member of its Group Executive and Management Committees in July 2025. He will later succeed Michael Colakides as Group CFO on 1 November 2025. Colakides will continue in his role as managing director of Titan, chair of the management committee and will remain as a member of the Titan and Titan America boards of directors.

Ioannou is a Cypriot national with 30 years of experience in finance, strategy and management roles in various industries in Europe, the Middle East and the US. Notably, he worked for PepsiCo for 16 years, becoming its CFO in Russia. He also held Group CFO roles at Abdul Latif Jameel and AW Rostamani Group in the UAE.

Ioannou holds an undergraduate degree in marketing and a master’s of business administration (MBA) qualification from Florida State University. He is a qualified chartered accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.


Saudi Arabia: Al Jouf Cement has appointed Qais Hussein Balas as its managing director. Other recent personnel changes at the company include the resignation of the CEO, Abdulkarim bin Mohammed Al-Nuhair, with effect at the end of his contract, on 21 August 2025. In addition, Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Falih has been appointed as chair in place of Abdullah bin Oudah Al-Ghubain.

Qais Balas holds over 25 years of management experience. Previous roles include the CEO of the Al-Manaseer cement plant in Jordan, the chief financial officer of GMS Group and as a Senior Internal Auditor at Fastlink. He has also worked as the Director of Investments and Business Development at Hikma Group.


Portugal: Ailana Vilela has been appointed as Chief Supply Chain Officer at Cimpor.

Vilela holds over 25 years of experience in the mining, steel and supply chain sectors. She previously worked in procurement management roles from 2018 to 2025 for mining company Samarco in Brazil. Before this, she held procurement jobs at Brazil-based steel product manufacturers Ternium and USIMINAS from 2013 to 2018. She holds a degree in international business from the Centro Universitário Una in Betim and a master’s of business administration (MBA) qualification from Ibmec.


US: Heidelberg Materials in North America has appointed Bill Fedorka as Senior Vice President, Fly Ash, Southeast Region. He succeeds Jim Clayton, who is retiring.
Fedorka started his career working for Alstom Power in the mid-1990s in engineering roles. He then joined The SEFA Group in 2005 and worked there until 2025. He worked as the Director of Utility Relations until 2011 when he became Vice President of Operations. In 2015, he was promoted to Chief Operating Officer. The SEFA Group was acquired by Heidelberg Materials in 2023. Fedorka holds an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from Penn State University.


Mozambique: Moçambique Dugongo Cimentos will invest US$35m in a third cement plant in Ancuabe, Cabo Delgado province, according to local press. The plant is presumed to be a grinding facility due to the value of the investment. Project coordinator Anselmo Amurane said that the plant’s design is under development, with community consultations completed and environmental assessments pending. The start date for construction was not disclosed.

Amurane said “We hope to contribute to increasing the overall cement supply and production capacity,” adding that the project would employ 900 construction workers and 135 operational workers.

Moçambique Dugongo Cimentos is a joint venture between Mozambique-based SPI Gestão and China-based West International Holding. The plant operates two plants in the cities of Maputo and Nacala.


South Africa: Natal Portland Cement (NPC) has completed an upgrade to its kiln at the Simuma plant in Port Shepstone, increasing cement production capacity from 1.5Mt/yr to 2.8Mt/yr, according to Freight News. Since China-based Huaxin Group acquired NPC in December 2023, it has committed US$56m to drive expansion.

Huaxin Group president Li Yeqing said “The Simuma expansion is a testament to Huaxin’s commitment to strengthen and grow the NPC brand in South Africa. The investment in the latest and most modern technology will help NPC increase its production capacity and grow its market share.”

NPC operates three cement plants, a limestone quarry, two aggregate mines and six ready-mix concrete operations across Durban, Port Shepstone and Newcastle.


Spain: Cementos Carral will expand its facilities at the Punta Langosteira Outer Port with four new silos, at a cost of more than €2m. The project will add 1242m² to its existing 3300m² plot, according to local press. To date, the company said it has managed operations of 120 vessels and moved over 700,000t of cement, and aims to increase its logistics capacity in response to growing demand. The expansion has entered the public information phase following publication in the Official State Gazette, with a 20-day window for comment.


Lebanon: Cement deliveries increased by 49% year-on-year to 0.85Mt in the first four months of 2025, compared to 0.57Mt in the same period of 2024, according to Credit Libanais’ Economical Research Unit. Deliveries rose by 23% in April 2025 to 0.24Mt, up from 0.19Mt in March 2025. The rebound has been attributed to improved political and security conditions.


UK: Titan Group will build and operate a processing and beneficiating facility for ponded fly ash at the former Fiddler’s Ferry power station in Warrington, following a long-term agreement with site owner Peel NRE. The plant will process 300,000t/yr of wet fly ash from 2027, with scope to double the capacity at a later date. Titan will use the material in low-carbon cement, while Peel NRE will receive help to advance restoration of the site. The ash will reportedly meet BS EN 450 quality standards.

Peel NRE director Kieran Tames said “We are very pleased to have reached this agreement with Titan, which follows years of hard work fully evaluating the potential to transform the waste ash material from the power station directly into a low-carbon construction product. This agreement has the potential to accelerate the recovery of waste ash from the lagoons, enabling their restoration and enhancement as envisaged by the development framework that was approved by the local authority last year. Through our partnership, existing customers will continue to source ash from the site, ensuring continuity of supply for their applications.”


Egypt: The Egyptian government has frozen the implementation of an earlier decision to reduce cement production capacities following a two-month suspension that took place during May and June 2025. The move aims to increase local supply and curb prices, which have reportedly been rising since the start of 2025 due to a decline in demand.

Shaimaa Aboulmagd, commercial director at Misr Beni Suef Cement, said the decision is expected to bring prices down further and that many cement companies have already started to reduce prices.

Ahmed El-Zeiny, head of the building materials division at the Cairo Chamber of Commerce, said the market is now anticipating price stabilisation due to increased supply, noting that the sector had recently faced reduced availability from higher exports and the closure of nine cement production lines.


Sri Lanka: Domestic cement demand rose to 4.71Mt since July 2024, up from 3.96Mt, according to Tokyo Cement. The company attributed the increase to the ‘latent demand and low base effect of the previous year.’ It said that local production has expanded, despite intensified competition from a new grinding operator and multiple cement importers, capitalising on the relaxed cement import restrictions. The company expects demand to improve further, supported by private sector-led construction and government infrastructure projects.

However, Tokyo Cement warned “The heightened volatility in the global trade policies and ongoing regional conflicts pose downside risks that add to the uncertainty and may jeopardise some of the hard-fought economic gains the country is working towards.”

It added “These factors may constrain capital inflows, dampen export prospects and impede economic recovery.”


Switzerland: Cement deliveries rose by 3% year-on-year to 0.99Mt in the second quarter of 2025, from April – June 2025, confirming a positive trend reversal that began earlier in the year, according to Cemsuisse.

The association called this trend ‘gratifying’, saying that the sector continues to benefit from favourable interest rates, and it expects continued strength in construction for the remainder of 2025. However, it noted a 3% year-on-year decline in the share of cement transported by rail to 35%, attributing this to ‘deteriorating’ rail freight conditions.


Vietnam: Vietnam produced 90Mt of cement in the first half of 2025, up by 15% year-on-year, according to the latest data from the government’s National Statistics Office. June 2025 production rose by 27% year-on-year to reach 17.1Mt in June 2025. Revised 2024 data showed full-year output at 184.2Mt, up by 3.5% year-on-year.


UK: Holcim UK has welcomed a €33.1m investment by the National Wealth Fund into the Peak Cluster carbon capture and storage (CCS) project, which will decarbonise 40% of the UK’s cement and lime production and support over 2000 existing jobs, as well as creating new ones. Led by Progressive Energy, Peak Cluster is a partnership between Holcim UK, Breedon, Tarmac and Sigma Roc involving cement and lime plants in Derbyshire and Staffordshire, including Holcim UK’s 1Mt/yr Cauldon plant. The project aims to reduce annual carbon emissions from its partners by 3Mt/yr from 2032 (25% of annual CO₂ output for the area), by capturing CO₂ from the plants and transporting it by pipeline to Morecambe Net Zero's disused gas fields under the East Irish Sea.

The investment will fund front-end engineering and design (FEED) and other studies to support a final investment decision in 2028. Holcim UK CEO Lee Sleight said that CCS is ‘essential’ to decarbonise cement manufacturing and achieve net zero by 2050.

Peak Cluster CEO John Egan said it will create a ‘backbone of industrial opportunity’ across northern England.


Vietnam: Vietnam Cement Industry Corporation (Vicem) recorded a consolidated after-tax profit of US$1.3m in the first half of 2025, following two consecutive years of losses, according to The Investor magazine. Clinker production reached 7.96Mt, up by 6.5% year-on-year, while cement exports totalled 0.71Mt. Looking ahead to the rest of 2025, Vicem expects domestic cement consumption to grow in the second half of 2025 due to increased public investment in infrastructure and recovering real estate supply, despite challenges from rain and storms in the northern and central regions, which could potentially affect demand. In addition, the industry continues to face challenges such as oversupply, price competition and changing customer preferences.

Vicem chair Nguyen Quoc Viet said that the company will focus on maintaining profitability by optimising clinker operations, enhancing efficiency and securing raw material supplies by securing a license and approval for mining exploration. It will also reportedly invest in technology upgrades and accelerate waste heat recovery power projects to reduce energy costs and CO₂ emissions.

Vicem manages 10 plants, housing 16 production lines, with an annual capacity of 20Mt/yr of clinker and 27Mt/yr of cement. It was the only one of six firms under the Ministry of Construction to report a loss in 2024, when it recorded a consolidated loss of US$55.15m.


Morocco: Cement sales are expected to reach 6.8Mt by the end of June 2025, up 10% from 6.2Mt in the same period in 2024, according to the Ministry of National Land Use Planning, Urban Development, Housing and Urban Policy.

Sales by members of the Professional Association of Cement Manufacturers (APC) – Asment Temara, Ciments de l'Atlas, Ciments du Maroc, LafargeHolcim Maroc and Novacim – totalled 0.83Mt in June 2025, up by 12% year-on-year from 0.75Mt.


Philippines: Aboitiz Construction has signed a three-year contract with Republic Cement and Building Materials (RCBM) to deliver site-specific services at the Norzagaray plant in Bulacan, the Teresa plant in Rizal, and the Danao City plant in Cebu.

The scope includes industrial housekeeping and general upkeep at Teresa, industrial housekeeping at Bulacan and technical manpower support for maintenance at Danao. The project will source around 80% of manpower from local communities.


US: The American Cement Association expects that data centres will need 1Mt of cement by 2028 as investment in artifical intelligence technology rises. 

Data centres are projected to consume 247,000t of cement in 2025 and 860,000t by 2027. There were 5426 operational AI data centres in the US at the end of March 2025, with the number reportedly expected to exceed 6000 by 2027. However, the association warned that there could be challenges in meeting this demand, such as regulatory hurdles and labour shortages.


Honduras: Cementos del Norte has inaugurated its new Mill No. 4 at the Río Bijao plant in Choloma, Cortés, according to a social media post by the producer. The new unit adds 140t/hr of cement production capacity, raising the plant’s total capacity to 7000t/day.


Pakistan: Lucky Cement exported over 3Mt of cement and clinker by sea in the 2024–25 financial year, the highest on record for the company and for Pakistan, according to Mettis Link News. The producer accounted for 42% of the country’s total cement and clinker exports during this period. The company said that 60% of the energy used for the export operations came from renewable sources, including wind, solar and waste heat recovery.


Global: P&O Maritime Logistics (POML), a subsidiary of Dubai-based terminal operator DP World, will acquire a 51% controlling stake in NovaAlgoma Cement Carriers’ wholly owned cement assets, according to Offshore Energy news. POML has entered a definitive agreement with NovaAlgoma Cement Carriers, the joint venture between Canada’s Algoma Central Corporation and Italian-Swiss Nova Marine Group.

The deal excludes NovaAlgoma’s joint venture interests in Northern Europe, Indonesia and Greece. NovaAlgoma will retain a 49% minority interest to be held in a new entity based in Dubai (NACC). Vessel operations will remain unchanged under current commercial and technical management, the companies said. NovaAlgoma's cement assets serve key infrastructure markets across North America, Europe, the Mediterranean, South Asia and the Caribbean.

Nova CEO Vincenzo Romeo said “We’re excited about the opportunities this partnership with DP World brings. It will allow us to expand the geographic reach of our fleet and better serve global logistics demands.” He added “NACC’s pneumatic cement carriers play a vital role in supporting the construction industry, delivering cement powder for infrastructure projects, now to even more regions around the world.”


US: Terra CO2 (Terra) has raised US$124.5m in series B equity funding, with co-leads Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Eagle Materials, GenZero and Just Climate, the round included investment from Barclays Climate Ventures. Additional strategic investors to join the round include Cemex and Siemens subsidiary Siemens Financial Services.

The capital will support the construction of Terra’s first 240,000t/yr advanced-processing facility in Dallas Fort Worth, expansion of its team and sites, and development of further commercial-scale cementitious projects.

CEO Bill Yearsley said “Terra's mandate is to deliver cementitious material solutions that the market would purchase solely based on cost and performance, even if there was no carbon benefit. The fact that Terra's cementitious materials also offer significant carbon mitigation is an additional advantage for the built environment.”

Terra produces supplementary cementitious materials as an alternative to traditional Portland cement, from resources like fly ash. Its second product, Opus Zero, is currently in the testing phase and would serve as a complete replacement for Portland cement.


France: Hoffmann Green Cement Technologies has reported a 250% rise in production volumes to 19,640t in the first half of 2025, compared to 7833t in the first half of 2024. The result also exceeded the company’s total 2024 output of 16,269t. The company supplied its products to more than 130 construction sites across France during the period. It said that the result was primarily driven by a ‘strengthened partnership’ network and the successful diversification of targeted markets.


Zimbabwe: The Centre for Natural Resource Governance (CNRG) has called on the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development to suspend operations on a US$1bn cement project in Magunje, Mashonaland West, citing ‘a spiralling crisis’ of human rights abuses, forced displacements and environmental harm, according to Pindula News. The project is led by Labenmon Investments, in partnership with China-based West International Holding. It is expected to produce 0.9Mt/yr of cement and 1.8Mt/yr of clinker. The project will reportedly create 5000 jobs and spur local development, but CNRG has raised concerns on behalf of local communities.

There have been reports that communities have been forcefully removed from their ancestral lands and graves of relatives ‘desecrated’ in the wake of mining developments. The group also raised concerns about alleged ‘fraudulent consultations,’ with legally required village meetings bypassed and affected communities excluded from decision-making processes. The newspaper also reported that eight villagers from Kapere were arrested for standing up to the mining project and continue to be summoned to the court despite the complainants failing to appear. CNRG staff members also reportedly faced threats from the Zimbabwe National Army while conducting an inspection in Kemapondo village.

There are also reports of the local Magunje Dam being polluted by the cement plant and of fires sparked during land clearing exercises, which have razed farmlands. There are also concerns of labour violations, with employees allegedly working in dangerous conditions, below the minimum wage and without formal contracts. The Zimbabwe Diamond and Allied Minerals Workers Union has escalated the matter to the Labour Court.


Mali: Three Indian nationals working at the Diamond Cement plant in Kayes were kidnapped after armed assailants carried out a coordinated attack on the facility on 1 July 2025. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that the incident was part of a broader wave of violence targeting multiple military and government sites across western and central Mali.

India’s embassy in the capital city of Bamako is reportedly coordinating with local authorities, law enforcement and plant management, and is in contact with the families of the victims. The MEA condemned the attack as a ‘deplorable act of violence’ and called on Malian authorities to ensure the hostages’ safe and swift release. It also urged Indian citizens in Mali to remain vigilant and exercise extreme caution.


Myanmar: The Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement will distribute more than US$250,000-worth of cement, funded by the National Disaster Management Committee, to repair homes damaged by the 28 March 2025 earthquake, according to Eleven Myanmar news. The earthquake affected 54 townships in eight regions and states.

At a meeting of the Myanmar Cement Manufacturers Association, its chair said that it would coordinate with local plants to produce and distribute cement, and hold market fairs in Nay Pyi Taw and Mandalay to ensure supply to the general public. The Union Minister added that assistance would be given to damaged plants, specifically in obtaining spare parts and raw materials.