Global Cement News

India: Amplus Solar has secured a contract with JK Lakshmi Cement for construction of a 56MW solar power plant at the producer’s 1.7Mt/yr Durg cement plant in Chhattisgarh. The producer expects to eliminate 73,000t/yr of CO₂ emissions as a result.

JK Lakshmi Cement’s president Arun Shukla said "We support the country's vision to achieve net zero emissions by 2070. We have taken multiple steps to reduce both direct and indirect carbon emissions. Last month, for the first time in India, we deployed liquefied natural gas (LNG) trucks to transport raw material. Now, with the switch to solar energy at our Durg plant, nearly 80% of the plant’s energy requirements will be met renewably.”

Amplus Energy previously partnered with UltraTech Cement for a 50MW solar installation at one of its cement plants in 2019.

Sri Lanka: Tokyo Cement recorded sales of US$74.8m during the first nine months of the 2023 financial year, up by 25% year-on-year. Its cost of sales dropped by 2% to US$49.7m, while its profit for the period rose by 60% to US$2.35m.

Türkiye: OYAK Çimento and Taiwan Cement Company (TCC)s’ joint venture says that it has successfully restarted one of its Turkish cement plants following an earthquake on 6 February. The Netherlands-based joint venture said that two further plants remained at a standstill due to a regional power outage.

Two major tremors, of magnitudes 7.8 and 7.5 on the Richter scale, originated near Gaziantep in Türkiye’s Southeastern Anatolia Region. TCC immediately activated its Employee Care Plan to assist and arrange aid for employees and their families, dispatching 100 emergency kits by courier.

On 8 February 2023, rescuers had reported that 9460 people had died in the catastrophe, 6960 in Türkiye and 2500 in Syria.

Zimbabwe: South Africa-based PPC is reportedly considering selling PPC Zimbabwe for US$200m. The Zimbabwe Independent newspaper has reported that the group received an unsolicited offer from a local company.

PPC said “PPC’s board has a duty to assess any such approaches on their respective merits.”

US: The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Carbon Storage Assurance Facility Enterprise (CarbonSAFE) initiative has awarded funding of US$8.9m to Heidelberg Materials North America to study the subsurface geology for suitability for the storage of carbon dioxide at the Mitchell integrated cement plant in Indiana. The proposed project will geologically characterise several prospective reservoirs under the Mitchell plant for storage of more than 50Mt of CO₂ over a 30-year timeframe.

The award, which is managed by the National Energy Technology Laboratory, will be issued to the Illinois State Geological Survey at the University of Illinois (ISGS) as the prime contractor, with the company acting as a technical and industrial partner. Heidelberg Materials is contributing about US$1.5m in funding while ISGS will be contributing approximately US$0.6m for a project total of US$11.1m. The funding was part of a DOE initiative that generated nearly US$125m in funding for 10 projects to characterise suitability for carbon storage across the US.

Heidelberg Materials’ Mitchell cement plant is being upgraded with a new production line. Full production on the new line is anticipated to start in early 2023.