Thailand: Siam Cement Group (SCG) says that it expects to invest US$1.17 - 1.47bn in capital expenditure across its operations throughout 2023, Reuters has reported. SCG's activities span cement and other building materials, packaging, chemicals and batteries.

UK: Private equity firm BGF has invested US$4.39m in carbon capture specialist Nuada. Nuada, formerly called MOF Technologies, is currently supplying its technology for a project at Buzzi’s Monselice cement plant in Italy. The system applies metal-organic framework (MOF) filters and vacuum swing absorption. Other partners on the project include Cementir Holding and Heidelberg Materials.

Nuada’s co-chief executive officer Conor Hamill said “There is no net zero without carbon capture. However, incumbent solutions are notoriously costly and energy intensive. Investment from BGF will further catalyse the scale-up and deployment of our technology, ensuring we are primed to efficiently decarbonise heavy industries.”

BGF’s investment is an extension to Nuada’s US$5.81m Series A funding round, which was co-led by the Clean Growth Fund and Barclays’ Sustainable Impact Capital portfolio.

Pakistan: Lucky Cement has won the KCCI Export Trophy for its performance in the cement export market during the 2021 financial year. The News International newspaper has reported that the company relied on its 24,000t-capacity Karachi cement terminal to ship cement to markets across South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Chief executive officer Muhammed Ali Tabba said "This modern facility allows the company to excel in exporting break bulk and containerised shipments." He continued "Our focus is on implementing advanced manufacturing technologies to enhance technical capabilities and operational efficiencies. A diversified business portfolio has helped us strengthen the country's industrial base, enabling us to develop a larger manufacturing footprint and seize opportunities for growth both in local and international markets."

India: Shree Cement’s sales amounted to US$609m during the first quarter of the 2024 financial year, up by 19% year-on-year from US$512m during the first quarter of the 2023 financial year. Its net profit rose by 84% to US$70.8m from US$38.5m.

The producer also approved plans to spend around US$850m on four new cement plants. These include two 3.65Mt/yr clinker plants, with waste heat recovery (WHR) systems, at Pali in Rajasthan and Kodla in Karnataka. Two additional grinding plants will also be built at Etah in Uttar Pradesh and Bangalore in Karnataka. All four units will have a cement production capacity of 6Mt/yr. It intends to support its expansion plans by raising US$122m from issuing non-convertible debentures (NCDs).

Neeraj Akhoury, the managing director of Shree Cement, said, “We have started the trial commissioning of our new unit at Purulia, West Bengal and are confident to commence operations of new plants at Nawalgarh in Rajasthan and Guntur in Andhra Pradesh within scheduled timelines. We are also happy to announce our next phase of capacity expansion projects of 12Mt that will take the group’s cement capacity to 72.4Mt.”