Brazil: The Brazilian National Cement Industry Association (SNIC) has recorded cement sales of 64.7Mt by Brazilian cement producers in 2021, up by 6.6% year-on-year from 2020 levels. Home construction work, property development and infrastructure building all contributed to the rise. Capacity utilisation rose to 69% from 65% across the country’s 94Mt/yr, 91-plant cement network.

Spain: Cement Science Group (CemSciG) and the University of Málaga (UMA) have received a US$50,000 donation from US-based CSA Research for their research into reduced-CO₂ cement production. The funding will continue the partners’ work at UMA’s department of inorganic chemistry, crystallography and minerology into alternative methods of cement production. Titles of their on-going projects include ‘Optimisation and Processing of LC3 Eco-Cements with Spanish Clays,’ ‘Microstructure Analyses of Limestone Calcined Clay Cements by Advanced Synchrotron Techniques’ and ‘Reduction of Cement Industry CO₂ Emissions without Loss of Mechanical Properties.’

Russia: Asia Cement has extended its contract with Freight One for the transportation of its cement by rail from Chais, Penza region. The producer said that it will aim to dispatch 164,000t of cement under the contract in 2022.

UAE: Cemex has supplied 400,000m³ of advanced semi-dry heavy-duty concrete to Abu Dhabi Ports Group’s Khalifa Port. Cemex said that the concrete’s composition maximises its lifespan, increasing sustainability.