South Africa: Afrimat is ‘reconsidering the future of its cement production’ after subsidiary Lafarge South Africa’s cement business contributed a loss in the first half of 2026, News24 Online News has reported. CEO Andries van Heerden said that the group may seek a partnership agreement, an outright sale or a strategic investor for the subsidiary. It sold its block and brick production businesses earlier in 2026, after originally acquiring Lafarge South Africa in 2024.

In a trading update, the company forecast a loss for the six months to the end of August 2026, the first half of its 2027 financial year (H1 FY 2027). The company was in profit in the half-year immediately preceding this. Lafarge South Africa’s aggregates and fly ash operations contributed a ‘strong performance’ and operating profit growth in H1 FY 2027.

Bolivia: Privately-owned cement producer Bolivian Cement Society (SOBOCE) has filed a formal complaint against Bolivia’s government before the Andean Community (CAN) for an alleged violation of the principle of fair national treatment. SOBOCE alleges that ‘privileges’ were granted to the National Cement Factory (FANCESA) over its private competitors by the Supreme Court of Justice. Additionally, SOBOCE requested that while the complaint is being resolved, the collection of US$62m related to a fine for alleged unfair competition be suspended.

SOBOCE's statement read “We have formally submitted a complaint to the General Secretary of the Andean Community against the Plurinational State of Bolivia for breaking legal security and for discriminatory treatment against a sub-regional investor. This is not just a simple commercial dispute; it is a complaint about how some within the Bolivian judicial system have manipulated the laws to suffocate foreign private investment.”

South Korea: The government has announced US$474bn of funding over the period from 2026 to 2035 to generate 100GW of renewable power. The Korean Green Transformation (K-GX) plan will focus on solar and wind projects, lowering renewable generation costs and adapting its power grid to support large-scale renewable generation. This includes replacing existing power lines with high-capacity ones and fostering DC power transmission and distribution to allow renewable power generation to be directly supplied to end-users.

Cement production is one of five major industries that will also be decarbonised, partly through the use of the new renewable power, but also through the development of green hydrogen infrastructure. Other sectors that the government wants to decarbonise include steel, petrochemicals, semi-conductors and refining. The K-GX plan also aims to boost electric vehicles, with a target that 70% of new vehicles will be electric or hydrogen powered by 2035.

Cyprus: Vassiliko Cement will hold an extraordinary general meeting in which it will seek approval for a share buyback on 29 October 2026. The Cyprus Mail newspaper has reported that the proposed buyback involves the purchase of up to 10% of issued share capital and would proceed over a period of 12 months.