Japan: Sumitomo Osaka Cement started using an internal carbon pricing system for capital investments from January 2022. It is intended to create economic incentives for emission reductions and promote low-carbon investment. The starting price will be around Euro39/t of CO₂. The measure follows the company’s introduction of its 2050 carbon neutral goals and policies in late 2020.

Germany: HeidelbergCement recorded sales of Euro18.7bn in 2021, up by 6.3% year-on-year from Euro17.6bn in 2020. The group says that the growth exceeds its anticipated ‘slight increase’ in sales. Sales in the fourth quarter of 2021 were Euro4.7bn, up by 4.4% from Euro4.5bn in the fourth quarter of 2020. The company announced a preliminary result from current operations of Euro2.61bn, up by 11% from Euro2.36bn in 2021.

Ghana: Professor Karen Scrivener has paid a working visit to the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA). The visit was part of a tour by Scrivener to Ghana to discuss innovations in cement and cementitious products and to introduce Limestone Calcined Clay Cement (LC3) to the authority, according to the Ghana News Agency. The Head of Laboratory of Construction Materials at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland met with GSA management and staff of the Building and Civil Engineering Lab at the Authority's Head Office in Accra. Scrivener noted that she was interested in learning more and engaging with the GSA on standards and its testing capabilities as well as a potential collaboration in capacity building in cement and cementitious products.

Denmark: FLSmidth’s 2021 full-year sales were US$2.66bn, up by 6.8% year-on-year from US$2.99bn in 2020. The group had previously forecast sales of US$2.42 – 2.57bn in its guidance for the year. Its EBITA margin was 5.9%, in the upper end of the company’s guidance of 5 – 6%. The company said that the result included costs of acquiring Thyssenkrupp’s mining business.