Ireland: Strong sales revenue and earnings growth from CRH’s America Materials and Building Products divisions have driven its performance in the first half of 2022. The group’s total revenue rose by 14% year-on-year to US$15bn in the first half of 2022 from US$13.2bn in the same period in 2021. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 21% to US$2.21bn from US$1.82bn. Its sales revenue of cement, lime and cement products grew by 5% to US$2.47bn.

The group’s America Materials division reported an increase in sales revenue and EBITDA of 17% to US$5.55bn and 12% to US$820m respectively. Cement sales in the region grew by 15% although lower activity was noted in Canada. The group’s Europe Materials division reported an increase in sales revenue and EBITDA of 5% to US$5.43bn and 4% to US$609m respectively. However the company said that before sales and earnings in the region grew by 14% on a like-for-like basis. The group’s Building Products division - which supplies architectural products, infrastructure products and construction accessories – performed particularly well compared to the other sectors.

Albert Manifold, the chief executive officer of CRH, said “CRH has delivered another strong performance with further growth in sales, EBITDA and margin despite a challenging and volatile cost environment. This performance reflects the continued execution of our integrated and sustainable solutions strategy.”

Jamaica: Mexico-based Cemex plans to expand production by up to 30% at its integrated Rockfort cement plant near Kingston. The first phase of the upgrade project will cost around US$40m and be completed during 2024. Cemex’s chief executive officer Fernando A Gonzalez made the announcement during a visit to the plant. Andrew Holness, the Prime Minister of Jamaica, also attended the event.

Gonzalez said “We are in the final stages of the engineering phase and in obtaining permits from the local authorities.” He added, “Very soon we will begin to procure the equipment needed for this initial phase of the project, designed to not only expand our capacity, but also allow us to optimise our heat consumption in the manufacturing process, and therefore, reduce the carbon footprint of our cement facility in Jamaica.”

The event also included the unveiling of a mural at the plant which commemorates the 60th anniversary of Jamaica’s independence. Titled ‘Reignited for Unity’, the mural measures around 15m tall by 50m wide. It was painted by Mexican artists Irving Cano and Freddie Herrera and Jamaican artists Anthony Smith, Yanque Yip and Jordan Harrison. The mural is part of a local government initiative to use art to promote different communities in Kingston.

India: UltraTech Cement has commissioned a 1.3Mt/yr upgrade at its Dalla plant in Uttar Pradesh. Following the work the plant now has a total cement production capacity of 1.8Mt/yr. The cement producer said that the project was the first part of a capacity expansion drive previously announced in late 2020. It added that with this latest upgrade its total cement production capacity in India is just under 116Mt/yr.

Dominican Republic: Cemex says it is planning to start using hydrogen technology at its integrated San Pedro De Macoris cement plant. It inaugurated the project during a visit by chief executive officer Fernando A Gonzalez. It is part of the company's Future in Action program that seeks to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

The group currently uses the technology by injecting hydrogen into cement plant kilns to optimise the combustion process and to increase the use of alternative fuels. It ran a trial at its Alicante cement plant in Spain using hydrogen in 2019 and says it rolled the process out to all of its European cement plants in 2021. Other hydrogen-based projects the cement producer is working on include a partnership with Hiiroc, a gas-to-hydrogen plant producer, and the creation of a renewable hydrogen industrial plant in Spain in collaboration with Acciona and Enagas.