China/India: UltraTech Cement has agreed to sell its majority stake in Shandong Binani Rongan Cement for around US$120m. As part of the deal its subsidiaries Krishna Holdings and Nathdwara Cement will both divest their shareholdings in the company. UltraTech Cement picked up the 3Mt/yr plant in 2018 as part of its acquisition of Binani Cement in 2018. The buyer has not been named.

Philippines: Germany-based Gebr. Pfeiffer says a ready2grind system it supplied to Petra Cement started in early December 2019. The clinker grinding mill is operational at a grinding plant on the Zamboanga Peninsula in Mindanao. No value for the order has been disclosed. Petra Cement’s sister company , Big Boss Cement, has also ordered a modular mill system from Gebr. Pfeiffer.

Uzbekistan: Akhangarantsement says that it has installed a ThyssenKrupp raw materials grinding unit at the site of an upcoming 5Mt/yr integrated cement plant in Tashkent Region. The equipment consists of a jaw crusher for primary crushing and a hammer mill for secondary crushing. The company said that the upcoming plant will “provide the market with a line of high-quality products for the construction of housing, industrial and infrastructure facilities.”

France: LafargeHolcim France says that it has “responded to the demand for low-carbon concretes” with the launch of a CEM-II Portland limestone cement product with 25% lower carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions than Ordinary Portland Cements (OPC) in its Galaxim Planet range. The new addition to the range, of which LafargeHolcim plans to produce 100,000t by 31 December 2020, contains 35% limestone, up by 23% from 12% in ordinary Portland limestone cement.

LafargeHolcim France south region cement sales director Olivier Mespouilles said, “Our goal is to offer all builders a cement offering properties equivalent to a conventional cement with the advantage of a reduced carbon footprint. This tour de force was successful thanks to the involvement of all our teams, and we are the first player in France to offer this type of limestone cement in such a volume." The cement is due to enter the market in the Languedoc-Roussillon region. From 2021 the company hopes to supply 80% of customers there with the low-carbon cement.