Austria: Alpacem has held the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of its new headquarters at Wietersdorf, Carinthia. The company will invest Euro6m to establish the new headquarters on the site of its Wietersdorf cement plant. It will contain 50 office work stations, with meeting rooms and socialising zones.
In 2021, Alpacem says that it supplied 2Mt of cement and 350,000m2 of ready-mix concrete to projects in the Alpine/Adriatic region.
Oman: Raysut Cement has announced plans to issue a secured rated debt instrument to raise up to US$600m. Reuters News has reported the instrument will raise funds for the company’s growth initiatives and existing bilateral debt repayments. Raysut Cement plans to carry it out in two tranches.
Russia: Germany-based HeidelbergCement has suspended ‘all further investments’ in its operations in Russia following the country’s invasion of Ukraine. According to its website, the group supplies the Russian cement market from three local cement plants and two terminals. CEO Dominik von Achten said that a ‘large part’ of HeidelbergCement’s Russian production capacity is presently in winter shutdown.
Von Achten acknowledged the company’s responsibility towards its employees in the country, who he said have no part in the apparent Russian aggression and on-going war crimes in Ukraine. He said “We are in constant exchange with our local workforce to protect them and are closely monitoring the situation on a day-by-day basis.”
US: Cement companies produced 79.2Mt of cement in 2021, according to United States Geological Service (USGS) data. The figure corresponds to a 0.1% year-on-year rise from 79.1Mt in 2020. Texas contributed 10.7Mt, 13% of the production total, followed by Missouri with 8.97Mt (11%) and California with 8.94Mt (11%).
