Global Cement Newsletter

Issue: GCW757 / 29 April 2026

Headlines


Aria Cybersecurity signed a deal this week just in time for the IEEE-IAS/ACA Cement Conference taking place in Florida, US. This opens up the topic of cybersecurity for the cement sector for us to discuss this week.

The software security company announced that it will be supplying its AZT Protect product to an unnamed but major US-based cement company. It reportedly demonstrated its offering to the customer in a laboratory before piloting it at a cement plant. One of the key points the supplier highlights in its press release is that its product can protect legacy systems that no longer have regularly updated software patches. For example, it suggests that it could save the customer money in this case by letting it continue to run critical machines using Windows 10, thereby saving knock-on software upgrade costs. Aria went on to say that once the current deployment is complete it is considering “expansion opportunities in up to 100s of other sites in the operator’s sister organisation.” Finally, it noted Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warnings from April 2026 that Iran-based hackers have been targeting certain Rockwell Automation/Allen-Bradley programmable logic controllers (PLC) in US critical infrastructure sectors.

Cybersecurity isn’t something Global Cement Weekly covers that often, partly due to the lack of publicly available information. Most large companies are reluctant to admit to hacks unless they are forced to disclose them. Some major incidents that we are aware of include Buzzi Unicem’s NotPetya Attack in 2017 that started in Ukraine and then spread to the group’s other European operations. Supplier Schmersal owned up to one in 2020, albeit with the spin that it had successfully managed to fight back. No doubt there are others. Away from cement, gypsum wallboard producer Knauf was targeted by a ransomware attack in 2022. Meanwhile, everyone working in the field is acutely aware of major incidents in industries outside of building materials such as the US-based Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack in 2022 or the one upon UK-based Jaguar Land Rover that halted the car manufacturer’s production lines for over five weeks in mid-2025. That last one reportedly cost the company around US$2.5bn.

Baidyanath Kumar, the Chief Information Security Officer and Data Protection Officer at JK Lakshmi Cement, gave an interview to Express Computer in early 2026 where he outlined the challenges facing heavy industry. In summary: criminals are looking for ransomware targets, supply chains are vulnerable and operational and information technology processes at plants are merging. Kumar goes into detail on strategic security frameworks and the use of security operations centres. Yet one other point to flag is that he says that it is the age of using AI to fight AI-driven attacks. Part of this, startingly, is about protecting AI security models from being corrupted or manipulated by attackers.

Thinking about cybersecurity more widely in organisations brings us to initiatives such as the Helena Protocol from Cementos Argos. This takes its name from Helen of Troy and is intended to prevent the company’s digital systems from ‘trojans’ and other digital threats. It presents cybersecurity as a shared responsibility between both employees and suppliers. In this way it is like a corporate health and safety policy. Other cement companies have similar documents.

Finally, as Baidyanath Kumar points out in his interview, AI is the current frontier of cybersecurity. Readers will likely be aware of the way in which Anthropic released its latest AI model to selected organisations first in April 2026 due to potential security issues. AI companies have a habit of hyping up their products, but AI tools finding vulnerabilities in software seems like a real threat. Hopefully the cybersecurity community will be able to stay ahead of this one.

The 1st Global CementAI Conference 2026 takes place in Brussels on 19 - 20 May 2026


Ivory Coast: Cimpor has appointed Yasin Tekinarslan as the CEO at Cimpor Africa.

Tekinarslan previously worked as the Country Director for Cimpor in the Ivory Coast. Prior to this he was the Factory Director for the company in Abidjan. Earlier in his career he held roles with OYAK Çimento including, one managing concrete plants in Türkiye. He has also worked for Votorantim Cimentos, likewise in Türkiye. Tekinarslan holds an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from Erciyes University


Pakistan: Attock Cement has appointed Omer Ashraf as its CEO. He will succeed Babar Bashir Mawaz in the post from 2 May 2026. The move follows the acquisition of Attock Cement by Fauji Cement Company and Kot Addu Power. The company has appointed Anwar Ali Hyder as its Chair in place of Shuaib Anwar Malik with immediate effect. Finally, a number of directors have also changed.


Canada: Carbon Cure has appointed Yuliya Kravtsov as its CEO. Kristal Kaye, CarbonCure’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) who has been working as interim CEO since June 2025, will move to the position of President and CFO.

Kravtsov has worked in the building materials sector for 15 years, starting with strategy and business development roles for LafargeHolcim in the US. She later became the head of Geocycle in the US and Canada from 2015 to 2019. She then became Head of Mid-America Region in 2020 and 2021. In 2022 she became the President - Sapphire Americas, the waste management division for Ash Grove Cement. She has also worked as a Strategic Board Advisor for Fortera since 2021. Earlier in her career she held roles with Boston Consulting Group and Discover Financial.

She is a graduate in Accounting and Finance of Walsh College and holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) qualification from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.


Germany: ABB and alcemy have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop AI solutions for cement and concrete quality optimisation. The partnership will integrate alcemy’s predictive technology with ABB’s automation and process control systems to improve production efficiency, reduce variability and lower CO₂ emissions. The system will analyse process data and feed adjustments back into plant operations to improve performance. ABB said that the closed-loop approach will reduce process variability and refine product consistency, ‘closing the gap’ between data and process optimisation.

Global manager for cement at ABB’s Process Industries division Bodil Recke said “Artificial intelligence is becoming an important enabler for the future of cement production. Bringing together ABB’s expertise in automation, process control and optimisation with alcemy’s AI and industry expertise, we aim to help cement producers improve performance while supporting their decarbonisation targets.”

alcemy CEO Leopold Spenner said “Working with ABB allows us to bring predictive quality insights closer to plant operations. Together, we want to help the cement industry achieve more consistent results – improving efficiency while reducing environmental impact.”


Bangladesh: Bangladesh’s cement industry is facing rising costs due to supply chain disruptions amid the conflict in the Middle East. Shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz have reportedly increased freight and insurance costs, raising the price of imports, according to local press. Industry officials said that clinker and other raw material costs have increased due to around 90% of clinker being imported. Manufacturers are now resorting to sourcing clinker from China, Thailand and Vietnam at higher prices, instead of the ‘cheaper’ Gulf countries.

Mohammad Abul Mansur of Royal Cement said that transport costs have nearly doubled due to higher fuel prices and maritime risks. Despite these rising costs, manufacturers are unable to fully pass the burden on to consumers due to weak domestic demand.

Mohammad Amirul Haque, president of the Bangladesh Cement Manufacturers Association, said that the industry has faced ‘multiple shocks’ in recent years and many companies are continuing operations despite losses. He said that the current situation is not sustainable in the long term, and that a quick recovery in the market is unlikely.


Türkiye: OYAK Cement has commissioned a 115MW solar power plant in Beypazarı, Ankara province. The plant has a 97.8MW connection capacity and is expected to generate 182GWh/yr of electricity. This follows the commissioning of a 9MW solar power plant at its facility in Mardin in southeastern Türkiye. It reportedly increases the share of renewables in the company’s energy use to 25%. The facility spans 150 hectares and includes 211,000 panels.

The company said the project is the largest self-consumption photovoltaic system for industrial production in Türkiye.


Mexico: Mexico’s cement demand could grow by just over 2% in 2026, supported by federal housing and infrastructure projects, according to the CEO of the National Chamber of Cement (CANACEM) Julio Cedeño Fernández. The Housing for Wellbeing programme will target construction of 1.8m homes, creating a ‘significant’ demand for cement. Other infrastructure projects, whilst still in their early stages, may also drive the demand. The outlook follows a weak 2025 for construction activity, and uncertainty still persists, but the outlook for 2026 is expected to be more favourable.

Julio Cedeño Fernández said “We are coming off of a difficult year, but as an industry we have positive expectations. The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement review creates uncertainty, but we are prepared. We hope that this year, with the boost from housing, the sector can recover or even grow further. We view the government’s plans with optimism, but they need to start being implemented.”


India: JK Cement has secured 70MW of solar powered electricity for its Nimbahera plant in Rajasthan through a partnership with Oriana Power, including an equity investment of US$446,000 into a project led by the supplier. JK Cement will purchase a 26% stake in a special purpose vehicle to deliver the project under a captive user model. The electricity will be supplied under a power purchase agreement.


Peru: Cementos Pacasmayo, part of Holcim, reported sales of US$159m in the first quarter of 2026, up by 11% year-on-year. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 32% to US$50.7m. The company said that the positive results were primarily due to higher sales of cement and concrete. Net profit increased to US$23m, up by 55%, and cement volumes reached 785,000t, up by 10%. Clinker volumes rose by 12% to 576,000t, driven by high cement demand.

Annual cement production capacity at the Pacasmayo, Piura and Rioja plants remained stable at 2.9Mt, 1.6Mt and 0.44Mt respectively. Installed clinker production capacity for the year at the plants was 1.8Mt, 0.99Mt and 0.29Mt respectively. Cement capacity utilisation reached 63.5% and clinker capacity utilisation was 76%.


Nigeria: The Edo State government signed an agreement with a Chinese firm on 27 April 2026 to build a 10Mt/yr cement plant, according to local press. State Commissioner for Information and Strategy Kasim Afegbua stated in a press conference in Benin City that groundwork on the project will begin by the mid-May 2026.

“By the middle of next month, the first step towards realising the dream of producing 10Mt/yr of cement will commence. We are hopeful that even the commencement of the project alone will generate employment and help tackle social vices,” he said.


Spain: Cement consumption in Spain reached 3.89Mt in the first quarter of 2026, rising by 9% year-on-year, according to the latest data from Oficemen. Consumption in March 2026 reached 1.54Mt, up by 28% year-on-year, and rolling annual consumption from April 2025 to March 2026 reached 17Mt, up by 12%. The country previously saw declines in January and February 2026 due to heavy rain. The association said that March 2026 was its best month for cement consumption in the past 15 years.

Exports fell by 15% to 0.88Mt in the first quarter of 2026, by 18% to 0.36Mt in March 2026, and rolling annual exports were down by 12% to 4.33Mt.


UK: Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey has warned that its raw materials suppliers are raising prices due to the ongoing war in Iran. During an update call accompanying the release of a trading statement, the company said that it was seeing increasing requests for price increases and surcharges. However, it added that it had “negotiated strongly on contracts for this year with some success.” It expects that build cost inflation will be up to 5% in 2026. The company’s key raw materials include bricks, cement, concrete, timber and roof tiles.

The company has also warned in its annual reports since 2021 of the risk that carbon pricing may have upon the price of some its raw materials, including cement and steel. In the medium term, there are plans to include these costs in land valuations and/or pass them onto customers via raised house prices.

Taylor Wimpey’s revenue grew by 13% year-on-year to €4.44bn in 2025 from €3.93bn in 2024. Its profit before exceptional items fell by 5% to €326m from €343m. However, high cladding fire safety costs reduced its overall profit considerably.


Uganda: President Yoweri Museveni commissioned the first phase of Yaobai Cement’s Moroto integrated cement plant on 24 April 2026, a 6000t/day clinker production line. The US$300m project is designed to produce 2Mt/yr of clinker and 3Mt/yr of cement upon full operation, reducing clinker imports and supporting domestic and regional markets. Ruth Nankabirwa, Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, said Uganda now has five cement plants with a combined production capacity of about 9Mt/yr. In 1986, it only had two plants producing 600,000t/yr.

The plant will supply markets including the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and western Kenya, and is expected to create more than 1500 jobs in the first phase and over 3500 jobs at full capacity. The project is also expected to save an estimated US$200m in foreign exchange from clinker imports.


Afghanistan: Construction has begun on the Safwan cement plant in Jabal Saraj district, Parwan province, following completion of exploratory work confirming suitable raw materials. The project is estimated to cost around US$225m, according to Tolo News. It includes the installation of 9000 solar panels to supply part of the plant’s 25MW power demand, and aims to increase domestic production and reduce reliance on imports. The plant is expected to create around 5000 jobs and support economic development in the region.

The head of exploration at Al-Falah contracting company, Mohammad Shoaib Shahzad, said “The geotechnical phase has been successfully completed, and land levelling is now in progress, as the terrain is uneven.” He added that 80% of this process is now complete.


Afghanistan: Construction has begun on the Yatim Taq cement plant Jawzjan Province, with a US$160m investment, according to local press. The project will have a capacity of 3000t/day of cement and is scheduled for completion within two years. Officials said that it will support efforts to reduce reliance on cement imports and achieve self-sufficiency in cement production.

The Ministry of Mines and Petroleum previously signed a contract with Turkish construction firm 77 in October 2024 for the project.


Saudi Arabia: Eastern Province Cement has started trial production on a new clinker line at its Khursaniyah plant, according to a stock exchange statement on 27 April 2026. The company said that the 10,000t/day line has completed ‘implementation works’ and will undergo testing until equipment efficiency is confirmed.

The line was built under a contract signed with Sinoma CDI in February 2024.


North Korea: The Sunchon Cement Complex reported production at 103% of its daily plan following upgrades and maintenance works, according to state-owned Korean News. The company said that it established a process of producing steel balls using high-carbon ferrochrome to improve the performance of the clinker crusher. It also said that it replaced the shell of Kiln No. 3 in two days and completely overhauled production line No. 3 in eight days, thanks to the ‘indomitable mental strength and staunch struggle’ of its workers.


Mexico: Cemex reported earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of US$794m in the first quarter of 2026, up by 34% year-on-year, while net sales increased by 3% on a like-for-like basis, to US$4bn. It reported a ‘strong performance’ for the period, supported by a cement volume recovery in Mexico and a disciplined pricing strategy. The company said that EBIT rose by 40% year-on-year, supported by operational efficiencies, pricing strategy and improved cost structure, while net income would have nearly doubled in the quarter, excluding a prior-year one-off gain from the sale of its operations in the Dominican Republic.

It said that the US showed ‘resilience’ despite adverse weather, with growth in ready-mix and aggregates volumes and continued benefits from Project Cutting Edge. EMEA reported double-digit EBITDA growth driven by cost discipline and pricing, while South, Central America and the Caribbean achieved double-digit EBITDA growth supported by higher volumes and ongoing transformation benefits.

CEO Jaime Muguiro said “I am very pleased with our first-quarter results, which reflect the ongoing benefits of our transformation and a structurally stronger Cemex with a more resilient earnings profile. Despite the uncertain global backdrop, our self-help measures under Project Cutting Edge that we have put into place coupled with strong first quarter results, give me confidence on our full‑year high-single-digit EBITDA growth guidance.”


Switzerland: Holcim reported sales of €3.83bn in the first quarter of 2026, up by 4% on an organic basis, while recurring EBIT rose by 8% to €469m. It closed five acquisitions during the quarter, including a majority stake in Cementos Pacasmayo, and signed an agreement to acquire assets from Cemex in Colombia. It also divested operations in Lebanon, comprising activities in Cyprus.

The company said that growth was also supported by demand for low-CO₂ products, with ECOPlanet cement accounting for 39% of cement sales, up from 35% in the previous corresponding quarter, and ECOPact concrete reaching 31% of ready-mix sales. Recycled construction materials volumes increased by 24%. The company confirmed its 2026 outlook, targeting sales growth of 3-5% and recurring EBIT growth of 8-10%.


US: ARIA Cybersecurity has signed an agreement to deploy its AZT Protect system at a cement plant operated by one of the largest US cement producers, according to the company’s release. It said that the producer “became concerned that attacks would get through IT network defences and take down critical production systems.” The company said that the system has been laboratory tested and will secure production systems by preventing unauthorised processes and protecting critical applications, while allowing deployment without the need for downtime. The technology reportedly meets CISA and IEC requirements for endpoint protection and can be installed across a plant in one day.

The unnamed director of operations at the plant said “Cement production is a margin-focused business - any improvement in operating costs is highly desirable. We validated ARIA's claims after a thorough testing and pilot process. AZT passed them all.”

Gary Southwell, president of ARIA Cybersecurity, said “AZT Protect provides a lock-down approach to protecting critical infrastructure applications from unintended updates as well as stopping all forms of malware, ransomware and nation-state backed attacks, including the recent Iranian-backed attacks targeting US industry."

Once the deployment is complete, ARIA plans to expand to the ‘100s of other sites’ in the producer’s sister organisation.


Austria: Baumit has commissioned a new raw meal mill at its Wopfing plant, following an investment of €22.6m. The company said that the upgrade reduces electricity demand by around 2500MWh/yr, improving energy efficiency and operational reliability in the cement production process.

Managing directors Manfred Tisch and Georg Bursik said “We are modernising a key step in the cement production process so that we can produce more reliably, with less maintenance, and with significantly lower susceptibility to downtime in the long term. At the same time, the new raw meal mill noticeably improves the energy balance – without compromising quality or process stability.”


US: Titan America has secured Department of Transportation (DOT) approvals in Florida, Virginia and North Carolina for its Type 1T blended TriForce cement. The company said that the approvals confirm the product’s compliance with DOT performance requirements across multiple states. TriForce cement combines multiple materials into a single product to support construction performance and reduce CO₂ footprint. Titan America said that the product is designed to support infrastructure and construction applications with improved performance and flexibility.

CEO of Titan America Bill Zarkalis said “TriForce cement represents more than a new product for Titan America - it reflects a scalable platform for innovation at the intersection of performance, sustainability and long-term value creation in construction. 'With TriForce, we are offering a smarter, more resilient cement engineered to address real-world challenges in concrete production and placement.”


Global: CURA Climate and Titan Group have signed a memorandum of understanding to evaluate electrochemical limestone-splitting technology for low-carbon cement and lime production across Titan’s global cement operations. The collaboration will begin with laboratory testing and validation of CURA’s materials, followed by technical and commercial assessments to explore pilot deployment across Titan’s operations. The technology uses electricity and a proprietary redox mediator platform known as CURALYTE to split limestone into calcium hydroxide and a concentrated CO₂ stream, aiming to reduce process emissions by 85% compared to conventional clinker production.

CEO of CURA Erin Bobicki said “Decarbonising cement requires technologies that can integrate with existing infrastructure while dramatically reducing emissions.”

Elli Argyrou, head of ventures and partnerships at Titan, said “Titan Group continuously evaluates breakthrough technologies that can transform our industry, accelerating the decarbonisation of cement production. We look forward to testing CURA’s electrochemical approach and exploring how it could complement our already strong pathway to net-zero cement.”


UK: First Graphene has completed a ‘world-first’ production trial of graphene-enhanced cement roof tiles with UK-based precast concrete manufacturer and supplier FP McCann. The five-month project used 40t of PureGRAPH enhanced cement, developed by First Graphene’s partner Breedon Group, to produce more than 10,000 tiles at FP McCann’s Cadeby plant. The trial showed a cradle-to-gate reduction in CO₂ emissions of up to 14% and a reduction in cement use of up to 8%, while maintaining equivalent strength compared to CEM I cement, with fewer materials and lower costs. The tiles will be used in a variety of projects, including installation on a new building at the Cadeby site, while discussions are underway with industry partners for wider use across the UK.


India: India’s carbon credit trading scheme will become stricter by the 2027 financial year, increasing compliance costs for cement companies, according to an ICRA ESG analysis.

The report looked at 14 companies, including 10 cement producers, and found that the 2026 financial year will be a ‘transition period’, with companies able to meet targets by reducing emission intensity by around 1.5%. Failure to reduce emissions may force companies to buy carbon credits. By 2027, the report said that around 30% of cement companies could face deficits, even under favourable conditions, with financial impacts reaching up to US$74.3m and carbon costs reducing profits by up to 19%. Companies will need to reduce emission intensity by around 0.7% in 2026 and 2.7% in 2027 compared to 2024 levels.


Jamaica: Caribbean Cement says that continued heavy rainfall has disrupted operations, affecting raw material conditions and causing equipment and process issues that have temporarily affected production levels, according to the Jamaica Observer. The development could slow rebuilding efforts following the damage caused by Hurricane Melissa. The company said that some delays persist due to high demand and adverse weather, but teams are working to stabilise equipment and restore normal operations, which are expected by mid-May 2026.

Chad Bryan, communication and social impact coordinator at Caribbean Cement, said “When it rains, accessing the quarry becomes difficult, and wet material is harder to process. It creates mud that builds up in the feed bins, which ultimately lowers production rates.”