Burkina Faso: The government has established Cim-Sahel, a 60% state-owned private-public partnership endowed with capital of US$9m. According to Trade Minister Serge Gnaniodem Poda, the company will guarantee the availability of cement throughout the country, curb speculation by enforcing reasonable prices and support the rapid pace of public and private infrastructure projects.
India: 1200 protestors, including workers, residents, social activists and trade union members, marched to the West Singhbhum Deputy Commissioner’s office in Chaibasa, Jharkhand, on 1 July 2026 to demand government action against the closure of ACC’s cement plant at Jhinkpani. The plant is slated to close its gates for the final time on 16 August 2026. The company has cited depletion of limestone reserves, rising clinker production costs and the ‘ageing, inefficient’ state of the the plant as causing it to become uneconomic to operate.
The Jhinkpani plant has been gradually winding down operations over the past few months. Cement production was suspended on 1 April 2026, after clinker supplies from the company’s Bargarh and Sindri units ended on 31 March 2026. Production halted completely on 3 May 2026, when the plant’s 15MW captive power plant also shut down.
“The closure of the cement plant will spell doom for Chaibasa, which has largely depended on its successful operation,” said local social worker Ramesh Balmuchu. An employee, Birbal Gope, said the shutdown will directly impact nearly 1500 workers, including 74 permanent staff. He estimated that 50,000 people depend directly or indirectly on the plant for livelihood.
Workers and residents announced plans for a march to the Jharkhand state government building in Ranchi in August 2026 in a further appeal to prevent the plant’s closure.
Indonesia/Germany: Heidelberg Materials is facing local protests against a planned cement plant and limestone quarry in Central Java. Locals say that the company failed to properly assess and mitigate the potential harms of its plans in the Kendeng Mountains. They say the project may damage a rare karst ecosystem and harm the livelihoods of Indigenous people in the area. An official complaint to the German Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control against Heidelberg Materials and Indocement is Indonesia's first to be filed under Germany's new supply chain law, which is designed to ensure that human rights are respected throughout the supply chains of German companies.
“If the project is implemented, we face an ecological catastrophe, impoverishment and violations of our human rights,” said Bambang Sutikyo, one of the complainants.
Heidelberg Materials said that affected communities had had the opportunity to voice concerns to the company's local subsidiary PT Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa during the project's permitting process and that feedback was reflected in the project planning. She added that “No decision on the implementation of the project has been taken.”
Italy: Federbeton, Italy’s cement association, has presented proposals to the government at a Senate hearing during the review of a bill that will enable the development of CO2 capture, transport, utilisation and storage. The association welcomed the start of the review process for a measure that establishes, for the first time, a comprehensive regulatory framework to develop carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) technology in Italy, which is seen as essential to the decarbonisation of the cement sector.
Developing a national CCUS supply chain is a prerequisite to decarbonise our sector," said Federbeton president Stefano Gallini. "The bill could mark a decisive step forward, provided the implementation framework ensures regulatory certainty, coordinated procedures and defined permitting timelines. Only then will it be possible to attract the massive investments required for the transition, while maintaining the competitiveness of a supply chain that is strategic for the country."
According to the latest decarbonisation strategy for the cement sector, the estimated total cost for the entire Italian cement industry's transition is in the region of €4.9 – 5.3bn by 2050. It is recommended that these investments be accompanied by the development of adequate infrastructure for CO2 transport and storage, following the hub model already being developed in various European countries. In Italy, a hub project has been launched in Ravenna.
Federbeton has highlighted several key enabling factors for the development of the CCUS value chain in Italy. These include streamlining of certain permitting processes, including financial support mechanisms commensurate with the required investments, local community engagement, market development for captured CO2 and the adaptation of the electricity grid to meet the plants' increased energy needs.
