Italy: The Italian cement association Federbeton has launched its comprehensive plan for cement industry decarbonisation in line with the EU’s European Green Deal target of a 55% reduction in CO₂ emissions between 1990 and 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050. The strategy entails Euro4.2bn of total new investments andEuro1.4m/yr of extra operating costs across the industry. This will cover the adoption of transition technologies and the large-scale application of carbon capture and storage (CCS). The association says that while some such actions, such as alternative fuel (AF) substitution,are immediately available, others require further development. The sector’s primary fuel is petcoke, mainly imported from the Gulf of Mexico. As such, Federbeton has identified the 100% replacement of all fossil fuels with ‘low-carbon impact’ alternatives as a means of reducing the industry’s carbon footprint by 12% achievable in the short term. Renewable green hydrogen use can cut a further 3% of CO₂ emissions, an energy transition to renewable sources can cut 5%, clinker factor reduction can cut 10%, alternative raw materials in clinker can cut 6%, CCS can cut 43%, supply chain and logistics changes can cut 16% and the optimisation of construction can cut the remaining 5%.

President Roberto Callieri said “The cement and concrete supply chain wants to be one of the protagonists of the ecological transition.” He added “Only with adequate and immediate support tools will it be possible to prevent the impoverishment of the industrial fabric, preserve the competitiveness of the supply chain and prevent relocation. Last but not least, a new environmental culture must be shared, based on dialogue and no longer on the preconceived opposition to any choice of industry.”

UK: Hanson has delivered 171,000t of cement to the site of the upcoming Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant in Somerset. It has also delivered 1Mm³ of ready-mix concrete via the customer’s on-site batching plants, 5Mt of aggregates and 443,000t of sand. Its Port Talbot site in Neath Port Talbot has supplied 230,000t of Regen ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) for use in concrete production, reducing the product’s carbon footprint by a total of 200,000t compared with concrete produced using ordinary Portland cement (OPC) only.

Italy: Colacem plans to stop grinding cement at its Maddaloni Plant in Campania from the start of October 2021. The unit will be converted into a sales and logistics site, according to the Il Mattino newspaper. The cement producer purchased the Maddaloni plant from Italcementi in mid-2018 as part of the measures required by the Italian Competition Authority when Italcementi acquired Cementir. The kiln at the plant was later shut down in early 2019.

Iraq: The Cement Producers Association in Iraq (CPAI) has complained about a government decision to reduce subsidises on fuel for the industry. It has warned that the cut could risk plants closing and cement prices rising, according to the Agence France Presse. The Ministry of Oil raised the price of fuel sold to cement manufactures to US$0.17/l in September 2021 from US$0.10/l litre previously. This followed a rise earlier in 2021. CPAI has warned of ‘enormous losses’ in the sector and has lobbied the government to reverse the decision. It added that producers would have to decide whether to stop production and lay off workers or raises cement prices by at least US$10/t. The subsidised fuel price for cement manufacturers was originally approved in exchange for an agreement to cap the price of cement.