Pakistan: Local cement despatches are projected to decline by 4% year-on-year to 2.98Mt in March 2026, based on sales of 2.13Mt recorded in the first 24 days of the month, which included a three-day Eid period with no sales activity. On a month-on-month basis, local despatches are expected to fall by 14%, mainly due to seasonal slowdown during Ramadan and Eid holidays. In contrast, exports in March 2026 are forecast to rise by 10% year-on-year, supported by increased sea-based shipments from southern producers, while northern exports remain affected by border disruptions.

Total cement sales for March 2026 are expected to reach around 3.65Mt, representing a 2% year-on-year decline and a 13% month-on-month decline. However, total cement sales for the first nine months of the 2026 financial year are projected to reach 38.4Mt, up by 10% year-on-year, driven largely by domestic demand. Cement capacity utilisation in March 2026 is estimated at 52%, compared to 60% in February 2026 and 53% in March 2025.

Romania: Holcim Romania has signed a funding agreement with the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency for the Carbon Hub CPT01 carbon capture and storage project, supported by the EU Innovation Fund. Developed in partnership with Carmeuse, the project will capture CO₂ emissions from both cement and lime production for permanent geological storage. It will enable the production of approximately 2Mt/yr of ‘nearly zero-emission cement’ and 200,000t/yr of lime with ‘nearly zero emissions.’ The carbon capture system will process flue gases from the two sites located in the Câmpulung industrial area.

CEO of Holcim Romania Bogdan Dobre said “The signing of this financing agreement with CINEA marks a defining moment for our Carbon Hub CPT01 project and for the decarbonisation of the construction sector in Eastern Europe. Through this initiative, we aim to demonstrate that large-scale carbon capture can accelerate the transition to near-zero emission cement, while supporting Romania’s role in Europe’s climate and industrial transformation.”

US: Electrified Thermal Solutions has opened a new headquarters and production facility in the Boston area, expanding manufacturing capacity for its electrically-conductive firebricks used in industrial thermal energy storage systems. The new facility will manufacture the company’s proprietary E-Bricks used in its Joule Hive Thermal Battery system, with production capacity sufficient to support more than 500MWh/yr of Joule Hive deployments. The expansion is intended to support growing demand from industrial sectors such as cement, steel and mining.

The investment builds on a recent partnership with HarbisonWalker International (HWI), part of Calderys, which supplies key raw materials and may adopt manufacturing processes developed at the Boston facility. The Joule Hive Thermal Battery uses oxide-based conductive firebricks capable of delivering temperatures of up to 1800°C with a projected lifespan of 20 - 30 years. The company aims to deploy 2GW of thermal power capacity by 2030 through the technology.

"Bringing E-Brick manufacturing to scale represents a major milestone in our journey to electrify industrial heat," said Joey Kabel, co-founder of Electrified Thermal Solutions. "This facility allows us to refine our manufacturing processes and accelerate scalability both internally and with refractory partners. We're positioned to deliver on our commitment to provide cost-competitive, zero-carbon heat to industries worldwide," he said.

Lithuania: The CCS Baltic Consortium has presented plans for a carbon capture and storage (CCS) value chain and a CO₂ transshipment terminal in Klaipėda, as part of efforts to decarbonise industrial sectors such as cement. The consortium includes KN Energies, cement producers Akmenės Cementas and Schwenk Latvija, and shipping companies Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and Larvik Shipping. The CCS Baltic Consortium aims to establish the first CCS value chain in the Baltic region and was launched in 2022. The system will cover CO₂ capture at cement plants, liquefaction, transport and shipment to long-term storage sites under the North Sea.

“This will be the first infrastructure of its kind in the Baltic States, creating conditions for rapid decarbonisation of industry in Lithuania and across the region. It will enhance regional competitiveness by modernising industrial sectors, create new jobs, contribute to Lithuania’s climate neutrality goals, and attract new investments and innovation to the Baltic economies,” says Rūta Tumėnienė, head of new energies at KN Energies.

A key component of the project is the planned CO₂ transshipment terminal in Klaipėda, where KN Energies is undertaking an environmental impact assessment for the construction and operation of the terminal, in order to prepare for the final investment decision. The terminal is scheduled for completion by 2030. The infrastructure will initially serve cement plants in Lithuania and Latvia, with plans to later operate on an open-access basis for other industries.