Global Cement News

Ukraine: The Ukrainian government has approved the construction of the €35.6m Galicia building materials complex in Kalush, Ivano-Frankivsk Region. The complex will include a cement plant. Business World News has reported that the government expects the Galicia complex to generate 1000 new jobs.

India: The Adani family has increased its stake in Ambuja Cements by 3.6% to 66.7% following an investment of just under US$800m. The move follows an investment of around US$600m that the board of the company approved in October 2022. The cement producer intends to use the additional finance to meet its target of reaching a cement production capacity of 140Mt/yr by 2028.

Ajay Kapur, the CEO of Ambuja Cements, said "This infusion of funds provides flexibility for fast-tracked growth, capital management initiatives and best-in-class balance sheet strength. It is not only the testament to steadfast belief in our vision and business model but also reinforces our commitment to delivering long-term sustainable value creation to our stakeholders and this shall propel us towards setting new benchmarks accelerating our growth and continue to deliver on operational excellence, business synergies and cost leadership."

Adani Group acquired Ambuja Cements and ACC from Switzerland-based Holcim in September 2022.

India: UltraTech Cement has increased its cement production capacity by 2.4Mt/yr through debottlenecking at integrated and grinding plants in Gujarat, Rajasthan and West Bengal. Following the improvement exercise its total domestic capacity is 141Mt/yr and worldwide it is 146Mt/yr. The improvements were made at the Pali integrated plant in Rajasthan and grinding plants at Magdall in Gujarat, Sonar Bangla in West Bengal and Neem ka Thana in Rajasthan.

India: UltraTech Cement plans to acquire a 26% stake in O2 Renewable Energy for around US$2m. It is making the purchase to support the energy requirements of its plants from renewable sources, according to the Times of India newspaper. O2 Renewable Energy is currently building a solar power plant in Karnataka that is expected to generate 35 – 48MW.

Kyrgyzstan: The Terek-Tash cement plant in the Kemin district is expected to commence operations in August 2024. Akylbek Japarov, the chair of the country’s Cabinet of Ministers, made the announcement as part of a tour of the Chuy region, according to the Trend News Agency. The plant will have a production capacity of over 1Mt/yr and has had an investment of US$160m. The Russian-Kyrgyz Development Fund has contributed US$45m to the project. Once completed the plant is expected to be one of the country’s largest industrial units. It will also use ash from the Bishkek thermal power plant.