Spain: The Department of the Environment has fined Cemex España Euro52,000 for emissions from two of its limestone and marl quarries in Valencia. The cement producer is being penalised for dust emissions from the sites, according to the El Mercantil Valenciano newspaper.

Spain: Cemex has signed a Euro117m deal with the local government to convert the land used by the Gádor cement plant in Almeria for use by new projects. These will include projects in solar and wind power generation, waste fuel production from plastics and biomass and a new concrete batching plant, according to Teleprensa. The initiative is intended to create around 400 jobs.

The cement producer has also signed a similar agreement for its Lloseta in Baleares. The company announced in mid-October 2018 that it was planning to close the two plants due to reduced demand for cement and mounting European CO₂ emissions regulations.

China: Miao Wei, the minister of industry and information technology, says that the government will ‘strictly prohibit’ the production capacity of new cement plants. The ban will also apply to the iron, steel and glass industries, according to Reuters and Xinhua. This latest ban will add to capacity restrictions already imposed upon the cement industry in 2018.

Belgium: The European Commission has approved the acquisition of sole control over Cimpor Portugal by Turkey’s Oyak. The commission ruled that there are no competition concerns between the cement producers given that they operate in different geographic markets. The deal was announced in late October 2018.