Global Cement News

Spain: Switzerland-based Synhelion and Cemex España plan to build a new clinker plant near Madrid. The plant will use Synhelion’s synthetic fuel to produce clinker from clay and crushed sand at 1200°C. The fuel consists of a gas produced from green hydrogen and captured CO₂, using solar heat. La Tribune de Genève Online News has reported that Synhelion’s thermochemical reactor further helps to capture CO₂ emissions from clinker production. A study by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne indicated that this can halve the cost of carbon capture at cement plants, to below Euro85/t.

US: Monarch Cement’s consolidated sales were US$122m in the first half of 2023, up by 27% year-on-year from US$95.8m during the first half of 2022. The producer’s retained earnings rose by 15% to US$311m from US$271m.

Throughout the first half of 2023, Monarch Cement recorded cement sales of US$71.7m (23% of total sales), up by 29% from US$55.4m (20% of total sales) in the first half of 2022.

Canada: Lafarge Canada says that it successfully integrated 10,000t of recycled concrete waste in cement production at its St. Constant cement plant in Quebec using its ECOCycle Technology process. The year-long production trial constituted the first phase of Lafarge Canada’s pilot of ECOCycle Technology. The producer says that the achievement solidifies its leading position in North American circular construction innovation. Waste360 News has reported that concrete constitutes 4Mt (40%) of Canada’s 10Mt annual generation of construction and demolition waste.

President and CEO David Redfern said “By reusing construction and demolition wastes in the production of new building materials, we are reducing waste sent to landfill. Across Lafarge Canada, we’re evaluating any opportunity to decarbonise our operations, and circularity is part of this effort. This pilot is critical to demonstrate that we can effectively repurpose concrete waste, which goes a long way to conserve our naturally occurring resources and loops in construction sustainability - building new from old.”

India: The board of directors of Anjani Portland Cement has approved the proposed amalgamation of Bhavya Cements into the company, Reuters has reported. Anjani Portland Cement first acquired a majority stake in Bhavya Cements in mid-2021

India: UltraTech Cement says that its cement production capacity will rise by 16% to 160Mt/yr, following the completion of its on-going growth phase.

Accord Fintech has reported that UltraTech Cement raised its capacity by 4.1% from 132Mt/yr throughout the 2023 financial year, which ended in March 2023.