India: JK Lakshmi Cement has recently ramped up the production capacity of its grinding units in the state to cater to growing cement demand in Gujarat and Maharashtra. The cement maker operates two grinding units in Gujarat, one at Kalol near Ahmedabad and one in Surat.

"Our combined capacity at both these locations has been raised to about 2.5Mt/yr from 1.5Mt/yr earlier," said Shailendra Chouksey, whole-time director of JK Lakshmi Cement. "We have been expecting reasonable growth in the cement sector largely driven by various government initiatives, as well as focus on infrastructure projects.”

Bolivia: Emisa has reported that it will stop cement production at its plant in Oruro to concentrate on cement distribution instead. Its existing mills were built in 1946 and their technology is now outdated. Local workers were offered either jobs in other plants, voluntary retirement or a redundancy package.

Nigeria: Dangote Group is the most admired brand in Nigeria according to a survey of around 50 brands by marketing agency Brand Nigeria. Several variables such as innovation capacity, product quality, online presence, leadership and presence of products in the local market, have led Dangote to lead this ranking, according to the reserach team.

India: The KCP Ltd cement unit II at Ramakrishnapuram in Krishna district has bagged the ‘Excellent Energy Efficient Unit’ award from the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). The award is given to the cement plant with lowest specific electrical energy consumption for cement production compared to the national average and lowest specific heat consumption for clinker production as against the industrial average.