UK: Breedon Group launched its ‘British Cement Advocacy’ campaign alongside publication of its 2025 results. CEO Rob Wood wrote to ministers in the Departments for Business and Trade and Energy Security and Net Zero, and campaigned alongside the Mineral Products Association, calling for government action to support domestic cement production. The company said that rising cement imports risk exporting jobs, investment and emissions while increasing supply chain risks. Breedon called for the establishment of a carbon border adjustment mechanism, to address competitiveness challenges, to accelerate support for carbon capture technologies and for the promotion of domestically produced cement in public procurement.

Wood said “Using public procurement policy to support domestically produced cement would unlock huge opportunities and ensure the government’s investment in housing and infrastructure delivers wider economic growth. It would also protect thousands of highly skilled, well-paid jobs across all four UK nations. We will continue our engagement throughout 2026 as we strongly encourage the government and our customers to ‘Back British Cement’.”

Oman: Oman Cement has launched a project at its Misfah plant in Muscat Governorate that uses industrial waste as fuel to reduce reliance on natural gas. The company installed a shredding machine to prepare industrial waste as fuel and awarded a contract to supply and install a system to feed the material into Kiln 1. The project reportedly forms part of the producer’s strategy to increase efficiency, increase capacity and reduce fossil fuel use and aligns with Oman Vision 2040 and the company’s decarbonisation targets. In 2024, Oman Cement said it was investing in a waste-to-energy plant designed to utilise refuse derived as an alternative energy source.

Canada: Progressive Planet has developed a supplementary cementitious material named Planet LCD Cement, based on limestone calcined diatomite. The company said the material can replace up to 50% of Portland cement while maintaining compressive strength in mortar cube tests meeting ASTM C618 requirements. Current testing has reportedly demonstrated strong compressive strength replacing Portland cement on a ‘weight for weight’ basis at 20%, 35% and 50% replacement, with all compressive strengths passing ASTM C618.

CEO Steve Harpur said “Planet LCD Cement uses diatomaceous earth, limestone and gypsum, all of which are plentiful materials. We have created a highly-reactive cement without metakaolin. Waste diatomaceous earth powders sell for a fraction of the cost of metakaolin. This opens up opportunities to utilise waste diatomaceous earth powders globally to replace 50% of Portland with Planet LCD Cement.”

A trademark application for the name Planet LCD Cement has been filed in Canada and a provisional patent application for the composition of Planet LCD Cement has been filed in the US.

Spain: Cement consumption in Andalusia rose by 10% year-on-year to 3.56Mt in 2025. Clinker and cement exports fell by 26% to 4.17Mt while imports rose by 58% to 2.65Mt.

Cement production reached 3.30Mt in 2025, down by 0.4% year-on-year.

President of the Andalusian Cement Manufacturers Association (AFCA) Alan Svaiter said “Over the next few years, the sector will face a significant investment effort with the aim of fulfilling its Decarbonisation Roadmap to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, with the intermediate milestones of reducing CO₂ emissions by 44% by 2030 and 83% by 2040, compared to 1990. To achieve this, it is necessary for the cement sector to have competitive energy prices, increase the energy recovery from waste to rates similar to those of the most advanced countries, receive financial support and administrative simplification for decarbonisation projects in our factories, and for the various public administrations to prioritise the use of cements with a lower carbon footprint, which we are already manufacturing, through the adoption of green public procurement policies.”