Global Cement News

Denmark: 29 consortium members, including Aalborg Portland Cement, Aker Carbon Capture and INEOS, have signed up to phase two of the Greensand carbon capture and storage pilot project. Proof of concept planning is now underway with a potential start date of around late 2021 subject to securing funding from the government’s Energy Technology Development and Demonstration Program. If successful an offshore injection pilot is scheduled for late 2022.

A majority of the Danish Parliament decided in December 2020 to set aside a special funding pool to support a CO2 storage pilot project, aiming to investigate the reservoir-CO₂ interaction in the Danish North Sea. This pilot project, if designed correctly, could form the basis for a decision, to enable CO₂ storage by 2025.

Mads Weng Gade, Head of Country, Denmark and Commercial Director INEOS Energy said, “We are taking this step by step. We now have the consortium in place, and if we are successful in receiving ongoing support from the Danish Government and advisory board, Greensand will be able to take another important step forward in supporting the Danish Climate Strategy.”

Spain: An anonymous source informed the Regional Government of Andalusia about the discovery of a cave with interesting geological features at a quarry run by FYM near its Malaga integrated cement plant. Photographs of the cave subsequently circulated on social media raising local awareness, according to El Español. The local government has commissioned a study to assess whether the site has any archaeological interest that might protect it however the condition of the site is reportedly poor. FYM, a subsidiary of Germany-based HeidelbergCement, has confirmed that activity in that part of the quarry has been ‘paralysed’ while it waits for the study to be completed.

Uzbekistan: The Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade (MIFT) says that an unnamed Singapore-based company is considering building an integrated cement plant in the country. The Uzbekistan National News Agency reports that investors from Singapore attended a meeting with Aziz Voitov, the First Deputy Minister of MIFT, and Adham Ikramov, the chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Uzbekistan: Cement production grew by 23% year-on-year to 5.8Mt in the first half of 2021. Data from the State Statistics Committee of Uzbekistan shows that production increased fastest in the second quarter. It was previously reported that the country imported 1Mt of cement in the first four months of the year. 48% came from Kazakhstan, 27% from the Kyrgyzstan, 23% from Tajikistan and 1% from both Iran and Turkmenistan.

Pakistan: Maple Leaf Cement’s sales rose by 22% year-on-year to US$216m in the financial year to 30 June 2021 from US$177m in the same period in 2020. It reported a profit after tax of US$23.2m compared to a loss of US$21.6m previously.