Global Cement News

Philippines: James Hardie has shut down its HardieFlex fibre cement board plant in Cabuyao, Laguna, ending over two decades of operations. The company will cease all commercial operations in the Philippines in the coming months.

Türkiye: Türkiye’s global cement exports declined by 9% to US$2.1bn during the first half of 2024, according to a statement from the Ministry of Trade. In June 2024, exports dropped by 18% to US$336.5m. However, Türkiye's cement exports to Azerbaijan remained steady at US$24.8m during the first half of 2024. In June 2024, exports to Azerbaijan rose by 16.5% year-on-year to US$3.5m. Since the first half of 2023, Türkiye exported cement products valued at US$4.3bn.

Philippines: First Gen will supply electricity from geothermal sources to Holcim Philippines plants in Mindanao. Under the agreement, First Gen subsidiary Energy Development will provide 22% of the energy needs for Holcim's manufacturing facilities in Bunawan, Davao City, and Lugait, Misamis Oriental. This partnership is enabled by the Mindanao introduction of the retail competition and open access programme, allowing significant power consumers to select their electricity suppliers. Earlier in August 2024, Holcim announced an electricity supply agreement with Alsons Power to supply 80% of the energy needs for the two facilities.

First Gen president and chief operating officer Francis Giles Puno said "We are pleased to partner with Holcim Philippines to grow viably while decarbonising. It's not an easy journey to decarbonise and provide for a regenerative future. This requires collaboration not just through supplying power, but also through solutions that maximise and optimise electricity requirements and working to find a pathway towards net zero."

US: Fortera has raised US$85m in a funding round to increase its production of ‘low to zero-carbon’ cement, Bloomberg reports. New investors include Wollemi Capital, Saint-Gobain venture capital arm NOVA, Presidio Ventures and Alumni Ventures, alongside existing investors Khosla Ventures and Singapore state fund Temasek.

The startup, valued at US$355m, utilises a technology that captures CO₂ emissions from traditional cement production and converts them into a mineral form for low-carbon cement. Fortera's first industrial ‘green’ cement plant operates at CalPortland's facility in Redding, California.

India: JSW Cement has filed an offer document with the Securities and Exchange Board of India for an initial public offer (IPO) of US$477m, according to NewsBytes. The IPO includes an equal split of fresh issue and offer-for-sale, each valued at US$239m. The funds will be used partly to finance a new integrated cement plant in Nagaur, Rajasthan, with US$95.5m allocated for this purpose, and US$86m used to reduce its existing debt, which stood at US$696m as of March 2024.