Europe: The European cement industry association Cembureau has published its 2030 Biodiversity Roadmap. The roadmap sets out the association’s strategy for becoming nature positive by 2030. This consists of four focus areas, namely participation in the European Union (EU) Pollinators Initiative, control of invasive species, support for protected species and ecosystem rehabilitation efforts.

Chief executive officer Koen Coppenholle said “The European cement industry is committed to achieving the goals set in the EU Green Deal. In addition to climate change, one of the key priorities of our industry is to protect and preserve the rich ecosystems thriving in and around our quarries and to make a strong contribution to biodiversity across the EU.”

India: India Cements’ fourth-quarter sales were US$183m in its 2022 financial year, which ended on 31 March 2022, down by 4% year-on-year from US$190m in the corresponding quarter of the 2021 Indian financial year. The producer’s net loss was US$1.37m, as against a first-quarter 2021 financial year net profit of US$6.47m. During the quarter, the company’s cement sales volumes fell by 1.4% to 2.63Mt from 2.67Mt, while its clinker sales volumes fell by 88% to 38,000t from 324,000t. For the full 2022 financial year, India Cements’ sales of cement rose by 2% to 9.07Mt from 8.9Mt. Coal costs ended the financial year at US$300/t, five times the 31 March 2021 price of US$60/t.

India Cements said “The spiralling prices of fuel, along with the shortage in availability of the same, affected the margins of the industry. The woes of the industry worsened further with the outbreak of Russia's war with Ukraine resulting in sanctions being imposed on Russia and its exports, fuelling further shortage of coal and oil in the market.”

India: The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has entrusted Ambuja Cement Foundation with responsibility for a new watershed development project in Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi District. The work will support local farmers in increasing their production and productivity. It will be the 10^th such project that Ambuja Cement Foundation has executed.

Director and CEO Pearl Tiwari said “Ambuja Cement Foundation has a long-standing relationship with NABARD, and we have been working together on watershed development in Himachal Pradesh for the past 14 years. With this new project, we are once again working to empower farmers of another district in the hilly region.”

US: The US Department of Energy has granted Solidia Technologies US$2.1m in funding for the development and testing of carbonation methods for its Solidia Cement. Solidia will research synthetic supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) production methods using direct CO₂ capture and utilisation.

CEO Russell Hill said “We are proud to partner with the US Department of Energy to continue innovating and ultimately deliver on our mission to provide commercially viable decarbonisation technologies and sustainable solutions for the global construction and building materials industries. The funding will advance our carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) technologies and synthetic SCMs that can be easily integrated into Portland cement-based concrete formulations, offering manufacturers a solution that is sustainable environmentally and economically.”