Global Cement Newsletter

Issue: GCW769 / 22 July 2026

Headlines


This week the European Commission (EC) announced its latest plan to change the emissions trading scheme (ETS). Meanwhile, in New Zealand, the government gave Fletcher Building around US$35m to keep its Golden Bay Cement Northland plant open. Read on to find out how the two stories are linked.

Following pressure from European heads of state earlier in the year, the EC published its proposal to amend the scheme. The commission has presented it as an Electrification Action Plan and an ETS review. However, the latter proposal is the main concern for the cement sector in the short term. It wants to add more free permits and slow the rate at which they are phased out. The Linear Reduction Factor (LRF) will be reduced to 3.7% for 2031 - 2035 and 1.7% for 2036 - 2040. This compares to the current LRF of 4.3% and the next one of 4.4% for 2028 - 2030. Both the amount of free permits or allowances for carbon credits and the rate at which they are phased out are a major concern for heavy emitting sectors, like cement, because it exposes them to the carbon price faster. The commission has spun this slowdown in its ambitions for the ETS as aligning it with the “domestic climate ambition level.”

Naturally, these changes come with strings attached. Free permits will be given to industry for longer but on the condition that investment is made towards decarbonisation. 80% of the value of the free permits will be given in advance but the remaining 20% will only follow once decarbonisation plans have been verified. Likewise, the free permit system will continue to operate to and the full version of the Cross Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) will start from 2038, instead of 2034 previously.

Cement Europe welcomed the proposed changes, noting that they were an “acknowledgement of the need to maintain sufficient liquidity in the carbon market beyond 2040.” It also liked the inclusion of CO2 transport infrastructure within the definition of ETS ‘installation.’ However, it did not like the slower phase out of the free allowances for CBAM sectors, as it is seeking a “level playing field” for carbon costs for both imports and exports. It is also looking forward to any progress on electricity prices, noting that such prices in the European Union (EU) remained higher than those in many competing countries that produce cement and clinker.

Climate think tanks such as Sandbag were less enthusiastic. In response to the proposed changes it declared in a LinkedIn post that the reforms would torpedo the EU’s legally binding target of a net emissions reduction of 90% by 2040 from 1990 levels. Its view is that the ETS currently has a surplus of permits representing 1.7x the emissions reported in 2025. If the EU tries to meet an 85% target it runs the risk of having too many free permits and crashing the EU ETS price. Sandbag reckons, more realistically, that the most likely scenario, if the current proposals are enacted, is that the 1.7x surplus will endure to 2040 leading to a 75% reduction of total emissions. Or, in other words, the EU appears to be softening its emissions reduction targets.

All of this links to a cement plant in New Zealand because the owners, Fletcher Building, partly blamed the threat of closing the site on local carbon taxes. Following an ‘independent assessment’ the company said that it might have to close the integrated plant and import clinker instead by 2030. Instead, the government has made a “specific, one-time response to an exceptional set of circumstances” and local subsidiary Golden Bay Cement has committed to investing around US$87m and keeping the site open until at least 2040. As Fletcher Building pointed out in its accompanying press release, it supplies nearly 60% of the cement used in the country and 95% of the plant’s output is sold domestically. It is worth noting, that despite major differences between the two systems, the carbon price in New Zealand is currently around €50/t compared to around €80/t in the EU.

These kinds of situations are going to continue as carbon taxes grow and mature around the world. Schemes will be tweaked following political pressure and governments may have to decide whether they want to bail out heavy emitters that they might deem as essential to society. One absurdity of the current argument in the EU about the ETS is that the commission has now issued its response softening the system following a record-breaking heatwave.


India: UltraTech Cement has appointed Ankur Agarwal as Joint Executive President. He is the unit head of the integrated Manikgarh plant in Maharashtra.

Agarwal previously worked for Ambuja Cements and ACC. He started his career in 2009 managing a mine for ACC. He later started to manage grinding plants for Ambuja Cements in the late 2010s. In 2021 he became a Director for ACC and in 2024 he was appointed as Manufacturing Integration Head by Ambuja Cements to manage five plants from its newly-acquired Penna Cement subsidiary. Agarwa holds an undergraduate degree in mining engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) in Dhanbad.


Pakistan: Muhammad Owais has resigned as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Thatta Cement. The company has started the process to appoint a replacement. Owais has worked for Thatta Cement since 2020 in a variety of finance roles. He became CFO in 2024. Prior to this he worked for Deloitte Pakistan.


US: Geometrica has appointed Alejandro Algara as its CEO. He will succeed company founder Francisco Castano in the role. Castano will continue to work for the company as chair.

Algara has worked for Geometrica since 2011, when he started as a Junior Engineer. He became a Technical Manager in 2020 and the company’s Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer in 2025. He is a graduate in civil engineering from the Technological Institute of Monterrey.

Texas-based Geometrica was established in 1992. It designs and builds domes and space frames for architectural, industrial and bulk storage markets.


Vietnam: Bach Dang Cement officially commissioned the Lien Khe cement plant in Vietnam’s northern Haiphong City on 19 July 2026, marking the start of commercial production at the facility. The plant’s first production line has a capacity of 3500t/day, equivalent to 1.5 - 1.7Mt/yr of cement. The company said the facility has sourced equipment from Europe and the US to meet quality and environmental standards.

The company is also planning a second production line with a capacity of 5000 - 6000t/day of clinker. The project is supported by an integrated value chain, including a limestone quarry and an inland port, ensuring stable supplies of raw materials and fuel. It is expected to contribute around US$7.59m to the local budget.


US/Canada: President Donald Trump has imposed a 50% tariff on a wide range of goods from Canada, including cement, for what he called ‘unequal treatment’ of US cars, dairy and alcohol. Trump invoked Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, which permits a president to impose punitive tariffs of up to 50% against trading partners deemed to have ‘discriminated’ against US goods. It marks the law’s first known usage in nearly 100 years of existence, according to Reuters. The new tariffs will take effect in 30 days, or from 19 August 2026.

No more specific details were disclosed regarding the impact on the cement sector. Canada has a production capacity of 19Mt/yr and the US is its major export market, so major disruption is expected.


India: JK Cement has partnered with Billion Electric to deploy more than 150 heavy-duty electric trucks during its current financial year, which began in June 2026, to decarbonise its operations. The partnership began with the deployment of 20 trucks, with a gross vehicle weight of 55t, from JK Cement’s Muddapur plant in Karnataka. The trucks will transport cement to stockpiles across Karnataka, Maharashtra and Goa. The deployment will be supported by ChargeZone’s high-speed charging network across the three states.


UK: Dragon Alfa Cement, a subsidiary of Cementos Portland Valderrivas that imports cement into the UK, has been fined €1.1m after one of its workers died after being crushed by equipment at the company’s bagging plant in Gloucestershire. Martin Bennett, 35, was crushed by a 1.6t concrete weight, used to raise pallets containing 25kg bags of cement. The fatal incident took place on 4 August 2021. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive found that a large section of the equipment’s perimeter fencing had been removed routinely over a prolonged period, allowing full access to dangerous, moving parts of the machinery. Dragon Alfa Cement was fined and ordered to pay an additional €11,275 in costs at court in Bristol on 21 July 2026.


Spain: According to the latest data by the Spanish Cement Manufacturers Association (Oficemen), 8.35Mt of cement were consumed between January to June 2026, 0.58Mt more than in the same period of 2025. In June 2026, consumption reached 1.56Mt, representing a year-on-year increase of 9% and 129,232t more than in the same month of 2025.

From July 2025 to June 2026, consumption stood at 17.23Mt, 12% more than in the previous twelve months. Conversely, exports continued their downward trend. For the first half of 2026, they fell by 15% to 1.95Mt, which is 0.35Mt less than the first half of 2025.

In June 2026, foreign sales fell by 12% to 0.36Mt. Exports declined by 15% year-on-year to 4.14Mt. The general director of Oficemen, Elena Guede, stated that the decline in exports is due to a structural problem and noted that the sector's foreign sales have been reduced by more than half since 2016, falling from 9.8Mt to 4.5Mt in 2025. Guede called for structural measures to reduce the energy costs of the Spanish cement industry and stated that the sector competes with a higher electricity cost structure than other European countries.

Oficemen anticipates a slowdown in the second half of the year and estimates that cement consumption growth will be around 2% by the end of 2026.


Peru: Cementos Pacasmayo, a subsidiary of Holcim, announced today its consolidated results for the first six months of 2026 and the second quarter. For the six months, cement sales volumes increased by 14% year-on-year, mainly due to increased demand for bagged cement. Revenues increased by 13%, in line with increased sales volumes. Consolidated earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 33% year-on-year, reaching US$103m. Net income increased by 58%, reaching US$46.8m.

For the second quarter, cement and concrete sales volumes increased by 16% year-on-year, mainly due to an increase in bagged cement demand. Revenues increased by 15% year-on-year, also in line with increased sales volumes. Consolidated EBITDA increased by 34% to US$51.5m and net income was US$22.7m, a 62% increase, mainly due to higher operating income.


Gabon: Cimaf is preparing to commission its third US$43m cement grinding line, scheduled for September 2026. The project was presented to the President of Gabon on 20 May 2026 by a delegation led by Cimaf CEO Anas Sefrioui. It will more than double the company’s production capacity from 0.85Mt/yr to 1.85Mt/yr. It is also expected to reduce cement imports and provide 350 jobs for local people. Gabon reportedly has a demand for 0.9Mt/yr of cement.


El Salvador: According to data from the Central Reserve Bank, El Salvador recorded a demand for 18.6 million 42.5kg bags of cement between January and April 2026. This represents an increase of 11% compared to the same period in 2025, when 16.6 million bags were required. The construction sector grew by nearly 14% month-on-month in April 2026, driven by various public and private construction projects.

Marcelo Arrieta, Holcim El Salvador’s CEO, said that the company has reached a production milestone, with a 45% increase in cement production and a 15% increase in clinker production year-on-year at its Maya plant in Metapán.


Australia: Adbri’s cement plant in Adelaide has received approval to burn more plastic waste as alternative fuel for its kiln, in a decision a local council is seeking to challenge in the courts, according to ABC news. The South Australia Environment Protection Authority (EPA) earlier in July 2026 approved a six-week trial permitting Adbri to use greater amounts of refuse-derived fuel (RDF). The plant had previously been allowed to burn up to 32t/hr, with a maximum 20% concentration of plastic. From Tuesday 21 July 2026, RDF will fuel the kiln at a maximum rate of 10t/hr and 50% plastic concentration, although the EPA's website says ‘it is not expected that [rate] will be sustained on an ongoing basis.’ Port Adelaide Enfield Council last week voted to seek ‘urgent legal advice’ about pursuing an injunction on the trial. The council also wants the government to enact 24-hour stack monitoring.

Port Adelaide Enfield mayor Claire Boan said "We have not seen nationwide data of any kind whatsoever that actually explains this is safe for our community, and that's a great concern.

It's not about closing them down. They've been there for a hundred years, for sure, but we've been here building our homes and that's really important and should be considered as well."

Adbri said that it has diverted at least 2.7Mt of waste that would have otherwise been sent to landfill since it began using alternative fuel in the early 2000s. A spokesperson said "The RDF proposed for use in the trial is a highly processed engineered fuel that must meet strict EPA standards and quality controls before it can be used."

EPA compliance director Steven Sergi said that pollutant monitoring would occur at different spots, including at the site's stack, and that there would be ‘ambient air quality’ monitoring in the community. He said data would be collected on emissions of various particle types, and of SO2 and NOx. "There's parameters set in the licence - as soon as those parameters are exceeded, particularly in relation to air quality, the trial ceases immediately," he said. Sergi added that the EPA would be conducting unannounced inspections at the site and that a report was expected within 90 days of the trial's completion.


Sri Lanka: Around 1000 residents of Katunayake staged a protest on 19 July 2026 against a proposed grinding plant on the Columbo-Katunayake road near Sri Lanka’s international airport. Protesters said that the Central Environment Authority had approved a building plan for an area of 3857m2 in December 2020, but that the original approval had now been changed to build a facility occupying 12,925m2. The company is Melwa Cement, according to The Morning Telegraph newspaper.

Protesters said “This is a highly sensitive environmental zone with a dense population and a major tourism zone. Airport engineers have pointed out that the air pollution caused by cement dust from the plant in close proximity to the runway could affect aircraft engines and machinery and equipment in the airport.” They also pointed out that three schools and the Negombo lagoon, which provides livelihoods for thousands of fishermen, were in close proximity.


New Zealand: Fletcher Building, parent company of Golden Bay Cement, said that the local government had granted its unit up to US$35m to support its Northland operations. The agreement provides certainty for Golden Bay Cement's continued domestic manufacturing capability and planned decarbonisation pathway, Fletcher said. Golden Bay Cement operates New Zealand's only domestic cement plant at Portland, supplying about 60% of the cement used, and nearly 95% of the firm's output is sold domestically. Golden Bay Cement will now continue to produce cement at its Northland plant until at least 2040, and invest at least US$87.8m through to 2040.

Fletcher Building CEO and Managing Director Andrew Reding said “Without government support, increasing costs, including CO₂ emissions costs that our competitors importing cement from overseas do not currently incur at the same level, would likely have required us to close the plant and move to an import-only model from 2030."

In a separate statement, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis said the government ‘did not take this decision lightly’ and undertook ‘rigorous’ analysis of the situation, including the risk of setting a new precedent. "Ultimately, we concluded that this is an exceptional case, which meets the very high bar needed to justify taxpayer support, Willis said.

She said the country would have been left ‘massively exposed’ to global supply disruptions if the Golden Bay plant shut down, adding that "Cement has no practical substitutes. It is needed for the building of homes, hospitals, schools, roads and other nationally significant infrastructure. Any reductions in its availability could bring essential construction and infrastructure development, and the economic activity they support, to a standstill."

Cabinet ministers reportedly considered the case in May 2026 and included a ‘limited envelope of funds’ in the Budget's operating allowance. They have since been in negotiations with the company over the size of the grant and the conditions attached.

Willis said that ministers also considered alternative forms of relief to the costs imposed by the emissions trading scheme, but ultimately decided against that so as not to undermine the scheme's integrity.


Switzerland/India: Coolbrook and ABB have announced the next phase of their partnership: to deliver an industrial-scale deployment of Coolbrook’s RotoDynamic Heater™ for Adani Cement’s Boyareddypalli integrated cement plant in Andhra Pradesh. Adani Cement and its partners aim to cut an initial 60,000t/yr of CO₂ emissions at the plant. As part of a long-term partnership, which has included exploratory research and development and testing, Coolbrook has now awarded ABB an electrical equipment scope for the project. ABB will provide drives, motors, switchgear and transformers, integrated with the ABB Ability™ System 800xA® distributed control system (DCS), to enable the safe, reliable and high-performance operation of the RotoDynamic Heater system.


India: JK Cement reported a net profit of US$28.8m in the first quarter of the 2027 financial year, down by 15% year-on-year from US$34m a year earlier. Sales rose by 20% year-on-year to US$423m from US$352m. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 6% to US$67.1m. However, improved prices and higher white cement sales partly offset rising input costs. Combined sales volumes increased by 18% year-on-year, driven by a 19% rise in cement despatches to 5.96Mt and a 29% increase in white cement volumes to 0.54Mt.


Vietnam: The country exported 2.9Mt of cement and clinker worth US$111m in June 2026, up by 9% in volume and 5.5% in value year-on-year, according to the latest figures from the government’s National Statistics Office (NSO).

In the first six months of 2026, Vietnam earned US$722m from exporting 19.4Mt of cement and clinker, up by 15% year-on-year in value and 16% year-on-year in volume. In 2025, Vietnam earned US$1.37bn from exporting 37.12Mt of cement and clinker, up by 20% year-on-year in value and 25% year-on-year in volume.


Kyrgyzstan: The production of construction materials in Kyrgyzstan has increased by 33% according to Ainura Mamanova, head of the industry and energy statistics department at the National Statistical Committee. This growth was primarily driven by a 27% increase in the output of cement products and a 44% surge in raw cement manufacturing. Mamanova reported that the country produced 2.43Mt of cement from January to June 2026, marking an increase of 0.4Mt compared to the same period in 2025.


Brazil: Votorantim Cimentos is investing US$51m in expanding its plant in Xambioá in the state of Tocantins. It will build a new grinding line at the plant to increase production capacity by 0.5Mt/yr, or 50%, to a total of 1.5Mt/yr starting in July 2028. The expansion is part of the company’s US$981m investment programme to grow its operations in Brazil between 2024 and 2028. US$608m is reportedly already underway, including the investment in Xambioá. Votorantim said that the project at the plant will move forward in conjunction with the ongoing modernisation of the kiln and development into low-carbon cement.


UK/India: Gigaton has secured contracts with JK Cement and Adani Cement, specifically AI-powered process optimisation and control at JK Cement’s Mangrol plant in Rajasthan and at Adani Cement’s Marwar Mundwa facility. Coinciding with the announcement of the UK-India trade deal on 15 July 2026, it targets savings across the company’s facilities of US$100m and 4Mt of CO₂ emissions over five years. The software has been running at the Mangrol plant for nine months and is expected to be deployed at the Marwar Mundwa facility soon, with the agreement having been signed earlier in July 2026.


India: Dalmia Bharat laid the foundation stone for its second cement plant in Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh. CEO Puneet Dalmia and senior government officials were in attendance. The integrated plant received an investment of US$321m and is part of an expansion announced in 2025. It will be commissioned by the third quarter of the 2028 financial year and is expected to become the company’s largest integrated plant in southern India, with a clinker capacity of 6.1Mt/yr and a cement capacity of 9.6Mt/yr.


Spain: Cemex España has received €200m in funding under the PERTE Industrial Decarbonisation Program (Line 1), earmarked for the development of SOMZERO, its carbon capture project at the Alcanar plant in Tarragona. The news was first reported by Diari de Tarragona on 29 May 2026, and the company’s press release now reveals more details. The project will reportedly allow the plant to achieve carbon neutrality and produce cement with zero CO2 emissions. SOMZERO aims to capture more than 0.5Mt/yr of CO₂. It was announced previously that the total investment will amount to €450m.


Armenia: Armenia’s State Revenue Committee has reportedly uncovered ‘large-scale’ tax violations in the construction materials sector, alleging millions of dollars in losses to the state budget, according to Panorama news. Investigators said that they have received intelligence suggesting that cement and concrete producers were underreporting sales, issuing false invoices and using fake transactions to reduce tax liabilities. Official secretly tracked trucks leaving a cement plant in Ararat province and compared delivery routes with company tax filings. Authorities reported that on one day, 101 trucks left the plant, but 35 shipments worth about US$117,891 were not recorded in tax documents. This omission allegedly deprived the state of US$19,648 in value-added tax. Further analysis raised suspicions that the company had also documented US$3.2m in diesel purchases using ‘potentially fictitious’ invoices, reducing both VAT and profit tax obligations.

Investigators also examined a concrete producer operating in Yerevan and Kotayk province. Officials said that the company failed to declare US$199,214 in sales, causing a US$62,766 shortfall in taxes. Preliminary investigations are underway, and the committee said that it would continue to pursue tax evasion schemes ‘aggressively,’ using surveillance and data analysis to protect state revenues.


France: NeoCem has announced the completion of a fundraising round with Crédit Mutuel to accelerate the deployment of its low-carbon binder technology. The company has begun large-scale industrialisation, with a first production unit already operational in St-Maximin near Paris, and starting a gradual ramp-up towards a target capacity of 0.2Mt/yr. It began production in November 2025.

The company develops cementitious materials based on calcined clay, which it says reduce CO₂ emissions by up to 90% compared to traditional clinker, while guaranteeing technical performance in line with market standards. The technology relies on the valorisation of clays derived from waste or industrial byproducts that are readily available across Europe. NeoCem said that it has already identified several partners both in France and internationally, with whom ‘advanced discussions’ are underway for the creation of new production units.


Nigeria: HBM Nigeria, formerly Lafarge Africa, says it is expanding production capacity with an additional 4.5Mt/yr to ensure a steady supply of cement across the country and meet rising demand. Group managing director Lolu Alade-Akinyemi said that the company is making progress on the expansion of its Sagamu plant in Ogun and Ashaka plant in Gombe, with both facilities planned to be inaugurated in January 2027.

“We are breaking a record because we’re adding this new capacity within one year. Traditionally, when you are building a new plant, it takes about three years. This is one of the benefits of belonging to the Huaxin Group,” said Alade-Akinyemi.


Ireland: Researchers from Trinity College Dublin’s School of Engineering have developed a 3D printed cement-free geopolymer made with a bauxite refining residue that contains over 30% industrial waste. The material is 3D printed, meaning that typical projects can be completed in weeks rather than months, avoiding the need for traditional moulds and formwork, and reducing waste. Construction is also automated and can print complex curves that may be impossible or too expensive to build traditionally, according to Trinity College Dublin. In the trial, conducted at Harcourt Technologies, the team demonstrated how the red-brown material could be mixed, pumped, extruded and printed. According to preliminary assessments, the material could reduce embodied CO₂ emissions by approximately 70% compared to ordinary Portland cement.

Professor Sara Pavia from Trinity College said “This successful trial demonstrates how local industrial residues can be transformed into functional, adaptable and visually distinctive construction materials. The material and method of production and printing essentially delivers two environmental benefits: it reduces dependence on carbon-intensive cements, and creates a high-value use for industrial residues. The significance of the material itself extends beyond cement replacement. It is a flexible binder platform whose composition, rheology, setting behaviour and early-age performance can be tailored to different manufacturing processes and construction applications.”

This work has its roots in a wider research project funded by Research Ireland, SISK, FLI Precast Solutions, McGrath Quarries, Techcrete and Roadstone. The industries bring together their expertise in material development, concrete production, precast manufacturing, construction delivery and digital fabrication. The next challenge is scaling the material from laboratory batches to the quantities and consistency required for industrial equipment. The next steps will focus on mechanical performance, durability, reinforcement, long-term stability, process control and regulatory compliance.


US: Total shipments of Portland and blended cement in the US and Puerto Rico rose by 4% year-on-year to an estimated 5.97Mt in January 2026, according to the latest data from the US Geological Survey. Clinker production, excluding Puerto Rico, rose by 11% year-on-year to an estimated 4.71Mt. Imports of cement and clinker, including Puerto Rico, rose by 19% year-on-year to 1.80Mt. The leading producing states in January 2026 were Alabama, California, Florida, Missouri and Texas. The leading consuming states — Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida and Georgia — received 49% of shipments.