Honduras: A ship carrying 49,000t of cement was forced to return to its port of origin after attempting to enter Honduras without complying with the certifications required by the government, according to The Herald. The ‘Technical Regulations for Cement’ came into effect on 6 October 2026 and prohibit the import, distribution and sale of cement that lacks proven laboratory testing and regulated labelling, in an effort to guarantee the quality, durability and safety of construction materials in the market.

Officials explained that 57,000t of cement arrived for import and that authorities had allowed the unloading of 7000t, which had entered the port before midnight prior to the regulation coming into force, authorising its sale under strict supervision. The remaining 49,000t was sent back because the company reportedly failed to provide proof of storage conditions, stowage or the behaviour of the material during its transport. Currently, only three companies have the documentation and permits that comply with the new regulations, while a fourth will reportedly begin its accreditation process in the next few days. Authorities have granted a grace period until the beginning of December 2026, which will allow local business to sell off their remaining non-compliant cement, following which the General Directorate of Consumer Protection will carry out nationwide inspections to confiscate cement that does not meet the required standards.

South Africa: Afrimat is ‘reconsidering the future of its cement production’ after subsidiary Lafarge South Africa’s cement business contributed a loss in the first half of 2026, News24 Online News has reported. CEO Andries van Heerden said that the group may seek a partnership agreement, an outright sale or a strategic investor for the subsidiary. It sold its block and brick production businesses earlier in 2026, after originally acquiring Lafarge South Africa in 2024.

In a trading update, the company forecast a loss for the six months to the end of August 2026, the first half of its 2027 financial year (H1 FY 2027). The company was in profit in the half-year immediately preceding this. Lafarge South Africa’s aggregates and fly ash operations contributed a ‘strong performance’ and operating profit growth in H1 FY 2027.

Tunisia: Ciments de Bizerte recorded sales of US$4.93m in the first half of 2026, down by 20% year-on-year. African Manager News has reported that the producer reduced its loss in earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) by 29%, to US$1.47m. Its net loss fell by 18%, to US$7.33m. The company purchased 59,900t of clinker. It reassessed its normal production capacity at 0.9Mt/yr. As a result, it lost US$3.7m in sold production and US$133,000 in inventory due to capacity underutilisation.

A joint statutory audit noted ‘significant’ uncertainty over Ciments de Bizerte’s ability to continue as a going concern, amidst a continued shutdown of clinker production and grinding capacity underutilisation. The kiln of the company’s erstwhile 1.6Mt/yr cement plant shut down amidst shortages of refractory bricks and petcoke and ‘financing constraints’ in October 2023. The government has approved a three-phase investment programme to restart clinker production and modernise equipment and IT systems at the plant. This includes financial restructuring and new financing via a banking pool led by Banque de l'Habitat. This is subject to the company’s completion of the debt consolidation.

South Korea: The government has announced US$474bn of funding over the period from 2026 to 2035 to generate 100GW of renewable power. The Korean Green Transformation (K-GX) plan will focus on solar and wind projects, lowering renewable generation costs and adapting its power grid to support large-scale renewable generation. This includes replacing existing power lines with high-capacity ones and fostering DC power transmission and distribution to allow renewable power generation to be directly supplied to end-users.

Cement production is one of five major industries that will also be decarbonised, partly through the use of the new renewable power, but also through the development of green hydrogen infrastructure. Other sectors that the government wants to decarbonise include steel, petrochemicals, semi-conductors and refining. The K-GX plan also aims to boost electric vehicles, with a target that 70% of new vehicles will be electric or hydrogen powered by 2035.