Global Cement News

Cambodia: The government has cancelled over 460 hectares of cement projects in Kampong Trach district, Kampot, to preserve the region's ecotourism and cultural heritage, according to Construction & Property Magazine. The decision will affect a project licensed to BYRICH Construction Material Company.

Its project spans 463 hectares across six limestone-rich mountainous sites, with a license valid from March 2020 to March 2035.

Lithuania: Capsol Technologies has commenced its first CapsolGo demonstration campaign at the Akmenės Cementas plant in Lithuania, owned by Schwenk, to evaluate its carbon capture technology.

Schwenk plans to test Capsol’s technology at two cement plants, with a combined CO₂ capture potential of 1.5Mt/yr. Following the demonstration campaign at the Akmenės plant in Lithuania, the CapsolGo unit will be transferred to Schwenk’s Brocēni cement plant in Latvia, where a feasibility study was conducted in 2024.

India: The Adani Group will invest US$577m to develop and expand its cement plants in Bhatapara and Jamul, according to the Economic Times. The expansion at the Bhatapara unit has already been announced.

This comes as part of an announcement by chair Gautam Adani to invest a total of US$7bn in the state, with US$6.9bn going to the expansion of power plants in Raipur, Korba and Raigarh.

Iran: The country’s cement production capacity has reached 90Mt/yr, with 85% of machinery and parts manufactured domestically, according to Majid Vafapour, head of the Cement Industry Employers Association.

Vafapour said domestic demand is fully met, with any surplus exported. He noted that reduced infrastructure activity due to funding constraints has driven higher exports.

Vafapour said “If international challenges are resolved and domestic projects regain momentum, the current 90Mt/yr capacity could be fully utilised for domestic consumption.”

Efficiency initiatives, including the use of additives, could boost output by 20% without new facilities, according to The Tehran Times. However, energy supply disruptions have left over 30 kilns idle, according to Vafapour, and clinker reserves have dropped below strategic levels.

Moldova: The Rybnitsa cement plant has closed amid a cutoff of gas supply to the Transnistrian region, leaving half of its 650 employees at home with 66% of their pay, while the rest carry out equipment repairs and cleaning, according to IPN news.

Interim director Oksana Baka said “The plant had a plan to produce about 30,000t of cement during this period. This stock would have ensured our protection on the market, but now the situation is critical because our supplies are insufficient.” Contributions to the local budget will decrease if gas supplies are not restored by February 2025.

The plant is modernising its dust filtration system and preparing for resumption once gas supplies are restored. On 1 January 2025, Gazprom stopped supplying gas to the Transnistrian region, after gas transit through Ukraine ended. The region remains under a state of emergency until 8 February 2025.