Global Cement News

India: Bharathi Cement plans to build a US$17m automated terminal and packaging plant at Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. United News of India has reported that the facility will package the company’s bagged and bulk cement and supply the South West Tamil Nadu and Kerala markets.

On 23 April 2022, the subsidiary of France-based Vicat despatched its first rake of cement aboard custom-built tank and box container cars to Coimbatore from its Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh, cement plant. Vicat’s India CEO Anoop Kumar Saxena said that the first-of-its method of bulk cement transportation will reduce the company’s logistics costs and carbon emission and increase the service level for customers.

US: Holcim US has become the first cement producer member of the Great Plains Institute’s Carbon Capture Coalition. The coalition’s 78 participating members and 23 observer organisations collaborate to build federal policy support for economy-wide, commercial-scale deployment of carbon capture and related technologies. Holcim US is currently assessing the viability of commercial-scale carbon capture, with two studies underway, at its Portland cement plant in Colorado and its Ste. Genevieve cement plant in Missouri.

Region head North America Toufic Tabbara said “Being at the forefront of developing low carbon solutions requires continuous innovative thinking and partnerships. Our efforts are most effective when we can align and join forces with other companies and organisations across industries who share this same commitment. We are proud to be part of an organisation that is similarly focused toward more efficient, innovative and sustainable practices.”

China: Gansu Qilianshan Cement plans to restructure its business. The group says that, should it proceed with its proposed restructuring, it will issue shares. Reuters News has reported that the restructuring may constitute a material asset restructuring.

Jamaica: Caribbean Cement says that its Rockfort cement plant in Kingston has surpassed 1000 days without a health and safety incident among employees and contractors. Health and safety coordinator Andre Haynes said that the achievement demonstrates that parent company Cemex’s Zero4Life zero-incident policy is possible.

Haynes said “As a company, we have invested heavily in the people aspect, with training geared towards improved safety and culture, and capital expenditure to improve the overall safety of the plant.” He said that the Rockfort cement plant will advance to its next safety milestone by keeping its focus on ‘closing all unsafe conditions’ and developing employees as health and safety champions.

Switzerland: Holcim recorded net sales of US$6.75bn in the first quarter of 2022, up by 20% year-on-year from US$5.62bn in the first quarter of 2021. The group’s recurring earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBIT) rose by 16% to US$643m from US$553m. The company has upgraded its outlook 2022 to a forecast of full-year net sales growth of at least 10%.

CEO Jan Jenisch said “I am very encouraged by the record start of the year, setting a solid foundation to our Strategy 2025 – Accelerating Green Growth.”

The first quarter of 2022 brought four new bolt-on acquisitions in addition to the group’s conclusion of its US$1.35bn Malarkey Roofing Products acquisition. The company says that it remains actively engaged in supporting humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.

Holcim has also published its industry-first Climate Report 2022. The report details the company’s progress towards achieving its sustainability targets under the four pillars of its Strategy 2025 – Accelerating Green Growth. Under the Accelerating Growth pillar, Holcim reached a total of 15 markets with its ECOPlanet reduced-CO₂ cement range. Under Expanding Solutions & Products, it reduced the proportion of cement sales in its consolidated sales to 57% in 2021 from 60% in 2020. Its other pillars are Leading in Innovation and Sustainability and Delivering Superior Performance. In 2021, the company used 6.6Mt of recycled construction and demolition waste in its products, against a 2050 target of 10Mt.

Chief sustainability and innovation officer Magali Anderson said “On our net-zero journey, we are walking the talk at Holcim, taking clear science-driven action to win the race for climate.”