Mozambique: China-based Sino Energy has signed a non-legally-binding memorandum of understanding with Hong Kong Construction Group in which it agreed to buy a 65% stake in a 0.4Mt/yr cement plant in Northern Pemba City, Cabo Delgado Province. Sino Energy will conduct due diligence and further negotiations on the proposed acquisition over the next four months. No value for the proposed purchase has been disclosed.

Sino Energy’s main business is manufacturing and selling of casual footwear, apparel and related accessories in mainland China. The company is also developing petrol station operations.

India: ACC plans to sell its National Limestone Company subsidiary to Ghadiya Group for around US$2.5m. National Limestone Company holds mining leases for limestone in the state of Rajasthan. Ghadiya Group operates in the construction and mining sector.

Cameroon: Dangote Cement’s subsidiary in Cameroon estimates that it had a market share of 39% in the first nine months of 2020. It reckons the total cement market in the country was over 2.6Mt in the same period and that it sold around 1Mt, according to the Ecofin Agency. It said that the market was mainly driven by individual construction projects and public housing estates. In February 2020 the subsidiary of the Nigeria-based company said it planned to do better business in 2020 by focusing on the construction sites of stadiums, roads, hotels and other construction projects in preparation for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, postponed to 2022.

The cement producer operates a 1.5Mt/yr cement grinding plant in Douala, with a dedicated jetty for offloading clinker that opened in 2015.

US: The Portland Cement Association (PCA) says it plans to develop a roadmap by the end of 2021 to help its member companies achieve carbon neutrality across the concrete value chain by 2050. It maintains that ‘concrete is critical to building a sustainable future’ and reinforced the benefits of concrete such as energy efficiency, lower life-cycle costs, durability and resilience. The roadmap is intended to solve problems facing the industry such as developing new technologies to reduce energy consumption and to develop and adopt related regulations.

“As the second most used material on earth and a cornerstone of our economy, we understand the critical role cement and concrete play in our nation’s future, and we are committed to an industry-wide effort that achieves carbon neutrality,” said Tom Beck, chairman of the PCA and president of Continental Cement. Rick Bohan, Vice President, Sustainability for the PCA added, “Developing a roadmap to carbon neutrality by 2050 further demonstrates our industry’s commitment to be a part of the solution and tackle this global issue.”

The PCA says that the industry has reduced energy consumption by 35%, emissions intensity by 11% and since 1990 has increased its use of alternative fuels.