Global Cement News

Tajikistan: The Tajik parliament has ratified an agreement for the construction of a 1.8Mt/yr integrated cement plant at Qubodiyon in Khatlon Province. ASIPLU News has reported that the government signed an agreement with Orien Invest for the plant's construction on 7 September 2022. Orien Invest said that it hopes to attract US$160m-worth of foreign investment in the project. When commissioned, the Qubodiyon cement plant will be Tajikistan's largest and create 1300 new jobs locally.

During the first nine months of 2022, Tajikistan produced 3.2Mt of cement, down by 0.7% year-on-year from nine-month 2021 volumes. Full-year production was 4.2Mt in 2021, in line with the two previous years.

UK: Hanson has announced a 'carbon capture breakthrough' in its use of recycled concrete paste (RCP) in the wet scrubber of its Ribblesdale cement plant in Lancashire. In under 30 minutes, 15t of RCP was able to capture 1.5t of CO₂ from the plant's flue emissions. Carbonated RCP is suitable to replace limestone in cement production.

Hanson's sustainability director Marian Garfield said “The trial was carried out with our parent company Heidelberg Materials’ research and development team, and marks another important milestone in our carbon capture journey."

Mexico: Cemex has announced a raft of new carbon capture projects in Europe and North America. When commissioned, they will bring its total installed CO₂ capture capacity to over 3Mt/yr. The projects consist of three front-end engineering (FEED) studies to scale installations of Australia-based Leilac’s direct separation technology at Cemex cement plants in Germany, Poland and the US; a fourth FEED study for 95% capture installation at the Balcones, Texas, cement plant using RTI International's solvent capture technology and a development partnership for the cement industry's most comprehensive carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) studies at eight further cement plants in Europe, Mexico and the US.

Chief executive officer Fernando González said “CCUS brings together the essence of our strategic priorities: sustainability and innovation. Our Future in Action programme to achieve sustainable excellence and become a net-zero company is all about measurable, verified progress towards the most ambitious decarbonisation pathway in the industry. Although CCUS technologies are not ready to be scaled quite yet, it will take relentless work and innovation to ensure their viability in time to avoid the most damaging effects of climate change.”

Ireland: CRH's consolidated sales were US$24.4bn during the first nine months of 2022, up by 13% year-on-year from nine-month 2021 levels. Regional sales grew by 18% in the group's America's Materials business, with a 12% rise in cement sales there, despite a drop in volumes. Elsewhere, for the Europe Materials business, sales remained level year-on-year, and higher pricing offset costs growths in all key markets except Asia and Europe West. The producer's consolidated earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 14% to US$4.2bn.

For the full year 2022, CRH expects to record a profit before tax greater than that of US$3.1bn recorded in 2021.

Chief executive officer Albert Manifold said ‘‘Notwithstanding a challenging and volatile cost environment, I am pleased to report further growth in sales, EBITDA and margin during the first nine months of the year. This performance reflects the resilience of our business and the benefits of our integrated and sustainable solutions strategy. The strength of our balance sheet, combined with our relentless focus on disciplined capital allocation, provides further opportunities to create value for all our stakeholders." Manifold added "Looking ahead to the remainder of 2022, we expect to deliver full-year EBITDA of approximately US$5.5bn."

Pakistan: The Association of Builders and Developers (ABAD) has accused cement producers of cartelisation and called on the government to take 'stern action' following a rise in cement prices. The Business Recorder newspaper has reported that builders believe that the rise does not reflect trends in local raw materials and imported coal prices. Additionally, it comes in spite of a drop in cement demand.