Global Cement News

UAE: Emsteel has signed a strategic partnership with Finnish company Magsort to produce decarbonised cement using steel slag. The agreement follows an industrial-scale pilot at its Al Ain plant that used 10,000t of steel slag to produce low-carbon cement. To meet growing local demand, Emsteel will build an integrated line at the Al Ain facility to process steel residue from its Abu Dhabi steel plant.

India: GoldCrest Cement will build a greenfield integrated plant with a 3.5Mt/yr clinker capacity and 4.5Mt/yr cement capacity. GoldCrest Cement appointed Humboldt Wedag India as engineering, procurement and construction contractor in March 2025 and targets completion by March 2027. It has signed a 40-year supply agreement with Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation for 150Mt of limestone from its upcoming Lakhpat Punrajpur mine in Gujarat.

Türkiye: Cementir Holding subsidiaries Çimentaş and Alfacem have entered a binding agreement to sell 100% of Kars Çimento to Arkoz Madencilik. Kars owns a 0.6Mt/yr integrated cement plant in northeastern Türkiye. The transaction is valued at €51m and is expected to complete by the end of 2025, subject to regulatory approvals. The company currently employs approximately 90 people.

Cementir Holding chair and CEO Francesco Caltagirone said “This divestment is part of our commitment to enhancing our operational efficiency and strengthening our competitive positioning by focusing on high-growth regions.”

Türkiye: Oyak Cement will convert Mill 3 at its Darıca integrated cement plant to a slag grinding unit, according to local press reports.

The company has submitted the project to the government and the environmental impact assessment process has reportedly begun. The US$252,000 investment will add 14 jobs. The modified facility will grind 1200t/day (360,000t/yr) of slag, along with 18,000t of limestone in its other mills.

Brazil: Votorantim Cimentos has received and begun installing a new cement mill at its Salto de Pirapora plant near São Paulo as part of its US$878m national expansion programme.

The 210t mill took six months to arrive from China via ship, and was then transported by a truck convoy from the Port of Santos to the plant. The mill will increase the plant’s capacity by 1Mt/yr. The unit is part of the Salto-Santa Helena complex, which will see its capacity grow by 20% when the expansion completes in the second half of 2025. Construction began in the first half of 2024.

General manager Rafael Frederico said “We are celebrating a new phase in the expansion project of the Salto de Pirapora plant with the arrival of the mill and all the equipment for assembling the new mill. The operation to transport the equipment from China to our unit was complex and executed with great operational excellence by our multidisciplinary teams and partners.”