Saudi Arabia: India-based software developer Mastek has successfully digitised operations at Yanbu Cement’s Yanbu cement plant in Medina province. Mastek deployed automation, industrial internet of things (IoT) and integrated enterprise platforms throughout the plant’s 5.9Mt/yr integrated cement production and 10Mt/yr despatch processes. The plant also handles 220,000 truck movements annually. Mastek installed Oracle Fusion Cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, integrated with IoT-enabled weighbridges, automated gate systems, GPS-driven transit tracking and a unified dashboard to provide real-time visibility from order to delivery. A new customer-facing digital portal facilitates order placement and live shipment tracking. As a result of these operational changes, truck turnaround time halved.

Yanbu Cement CEO Ali Al Ayed said "The transformation has enhanced operational efficiency and reduced costs, leading to quick turnaround and accelerated deliveries."

Yanbu Cement hired Mastek for the project in 2024, extending a digital and cloud transformation programme the two partners began in 2022.

India: UltraTech Cement has received an 82,000t consignment of coal from the US into Deendayal Port in Gujarat. Maritime Gateway News has reported that a Hong Kong, China-registered vessel made the delivery.

UltraTech Cement’s local cement plants include the Babarkot and Kovaya plants, both in Amarli district.

Taiwan: Asia Cement (China) has won a 2026 Asia Responsible Enterprise Awards (AREA) award in the Social Empowerment category for its Co-Governance Plan with Tribes and Communities: Long-Term Actions to Build Local Social Resilience strategy. The strategy includes operational integration of community consultation and Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) procedures, and support for cultural preservation, disaster preparedness and post-disaster recovery. As a result, the producer also received an AREA Silver Emblem of Sustainability for its efforts under the plan.

Asia Cement (China) has previously won AREA awards across the Circular Economy, Corporate Governance, Green Leadership, Health and Sanitation, Social Empowerment and Sustainability Reporting categories every year since first entering in 2018.

US: Martin Marietta Materials has announced that it will combine with Lhoist North America (LNA) for US$13.5bn in cash and shares in Martin Marietta. The transaction is expected to be completed in the second half of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals. Lhoist North America is a producer of lime and industrial mineral products, operating a network of 20 quarries and production facilities and 45 distribution terminals. It generated US$1.8bn in gross sales in 2025. LNA has more than 2Bnt of limestone reserves in Sun Belt metropolitan corridors.

Ward Nye, president and CEO of Martin Marietta, said "This transaction represents another transformational milestone for Martin Marietta and directly advances our SOAR 2030 objective to expand our Specialties segment in lime and other industrial minerals. It builds on our core quarrying competency, expands our geographic footprint and establishes Martin Marietta as the leading national producer of lime solutions. As the US continues to invest in infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, energy development and industrial expansion, demand for high-quality lime products is expected to remain resilient for decades to come.

Baron Berghmans, chair of Lhoist Group, said "For more than a century, our family has built Lhoist into a global leader by safeguarding world-class limestone reserves and serving our customers with discipline, quality and care. In Martin Marietta, we have found a partner who shares these values, honours the legacy we have carefully built and ensures it will endure for generations to come.”