Global Cement News

US: Cemex USA’s Victorville cement plant in California has won the Portland Cement Association (PCA)’s Chairman’s Safety Performance Award 2021 in the Large category. The award recognises top safety performance. The Victorville cement plant previously won the award in 2019 and 2020. Cemex USA says that the plant recorded zero incidents in 2020. Earlier in 2021, it surpassed four years without a lost time injury to any employee or contractor.

President Jaime Muguiro said “Safety is our top priority, and Victorville cement plant is demonstrating that Zero4Life is possible. We are proud of the continued commitment of our team, and their achievement is a great example of what can happen when everyone is dedicated to safety and works together to look out for one another.”

France: Cemex France has supplied 40,000m³ to the site of the now completed Paris Duo Towers in Paris, Île-de-France. The company also provided construction waste removal services through its multimodal transport network. The producer said that the strong commitment of its technical teams ensured the success of the operation. It said that excellent communication between its various departments and the concrete production teams enabled ‘smooth and consistent’ concrete deliveries.

India: Ambuja Cement recorded sales of US$930m in the first half of 2021, up by 41% year-on-year from US$659m in the same period in 2020. Cement sales volumes grew by 36% to 13.5Mt from 9.95Mt. Its profit after tax was US$186m, up by 63% from US$114m.

“This performance resulted from strong growth in sales of premium products and successful execution of efficiency improvement programs which has partly been impacted by rising energy and raw material costs. Synergies under the master supply agreement have significantly benefited both Ambuja and ACC as we leverage our national footprint,” said Neeraj Akhoury, the chief executive officer of Holcim in India and the managing director of Ambuja Cement.

The company also announced that its board has approved a 1.5Mt/yr expansion project at its Ropar grinding plant in Punjab.

Australia: AdBri has awarded a gas sales agreement with Senex Energy to supply up to 11PJ of natural gas to support its manufacturing operations in the south of the country to 2030. Supply will start in January 2023. The long-term, contract sets prices ‘in line with current market levels.’ Adbri chief executive officer Nick Miller said that he was ‘pleased to execute this long-term agreement,’ which gives certainty to both parties moving forward.

Adbri committed to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 in late May 2021.

Kazakhstan: The Ministry of Industry and Infrastructural Development has lifted a ban on imports of Portland cement, alumina cement, hydraulic cement and clinker into the country. A three-month ban on such imports began in late April 2021, according to the Trend News Agency. Imported cement must conform to new quality standards introduced by the ministry’s Technical Regulation and Metrology Committee in July 2021.