Zimbabwe: PPC Zimbabwe recorded sales of US$216m in the 2026 financial year, up by 14% year-on-year. Its trading profit rose by 20% to US$46.1m. Cement sales volumes rose by 8%, bolstered by parent company PCC’s Awaken Giant growth strategy for Southern Africa. PPC Zimbabwe closed the year debt-free, with US$8.43m in unrestricted cash, up by 18% year-on-year.

CEO Matias Cardarelli said the results "demonstrate the scale of value that can be unlocked in a well-run PPC,” noting the group's “stronger, more competitive” position, despite a “stagnant” operating environment.

Argentina: Molins subsidiary Cementos Avellaneda has acquired a 70% stake in construction products company Prokrete Argentina. Protex's prior owners will remain as minority shareholders with board representation. Protex produces waterproofing products, sealants, additives, adhesives, coatings and industrial paints, and also owns assets in the mining, energy and heavy industry sectors.

Tunisia: Carthage Cement has published its 2025 Sustainability Report. L'Economiste Maghrébin newspaper has reported that the producer’s total energy consumption fell by 12% year-on-year to 5,300,000GJ. Thermal consumption declined by 12% to 4,720,000GJ, while electricity consumption declined by 9% to 588,000GJ. Raw materials consumption was 1.5t/t of cement produced. As a result, extraction volumes declines by 12%, to 4.09Mt.

US: CO₂-sequestering alternative cement developer CarbonCure and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Masic Lab have published a study establishing a new chemomechanical framework for CO₂ mineralisation in cement. The study found that early-age CO₂ injection fundamentally reroutes cement hydration by introducing a transient reactive silica gel phase. This phase templates a more homogeneous calcium-silicate-hydrate (CSH) microstructure and increases 24-hour compressive strength compared to reference samples.

The study concluded that mechanical gains in CO₂-activated systems are not solely attributable to the pore-filling effect of nanocarbonates, but are ‘significantly’ driven by alteration of the hydration sequence. As such, the researchers advised that the optimisation CO₂ utilisation technologies should focus on controlling the kinetics of silica gel generation and consumption as well as the degree of carbonate formation.