Global Cement News

Switzerland: LafargeHolcim has revealed a Euro145m investment plan to reduce its CO2 emissions in Europe by 3Mt/yr, equivalent to 15% of its carbon footprint, by 2022. The investment will target advanced equipment and technology to increase the use of low-carbon fuels and materials.

Ireland: Kevin Lunny, chief operating officer of Quinn Industrial Holdings, has suffered ‘very severe but non-life-threatening injuries,’ including facial injuries and broken leg, following his abduction from outside his home at 18:40pm on 17 September 2019. The UK-based company, whose Fermanagh/Cavan cement plant spans the UK-Irish border, has called on police on either side of the border to bring an end to the violence against its employees. In February 2019, a masked man attacked two Quinn Industrial Holdings executives at a Ballyconnell service station. Police have opened an investigation into the attack against Lunny.

Ecuador: Sambito, the Ecuadorian environmental consultant, has endorsed the certification of two LafargeHolcim cement products as carbon neutral. Metro Ecuador has reported that both Agrovial and Base Vial, prepared at low heats for foundations and roads respectively, have 54% lower emissions than ‘traditional’ cement. Carbon neutrality was achieved by Holcim Ecuador’s ownership of the 6078 hectare Cerro Blanco Protected Forest, 2175 hectares of which suffices to offset the emissions from production of both products.

Spain: The Association of Spanish Cement Producers (Oficem) has elected Víctor García Brosa its president. García Brosa is deputy general director of Cementos Portland Valderrivas (CPV). He was chief executive officer (CEO) at the company from 2015 to 2019. He joined CPV’s strategic planning department in 2005. He now faces the challenge of keeping the Spanish cement sector competitive globally, in addition to being director of multiple companies.

Energy costs for Spanish producers are 20 - 30% higher than in Germany and France. García Brosa has stated that he sees EU carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions rules not as an additional cost, but a challenge to the industry to reconcile its activities with its environment. Domestic cement consumption has fallen by 80% since 2007.

India: Barathi Cement has commissioned a 10MW solar power station at its 5.0Mt/yr integrated Barathi Cement Plant. The Hindu Times has reported that the facility, which spans 16.6 hectares, will partially replace combustion-derived electricity sources at the plant.