Germany/Spain: Cementos Molins has agreed to buy 100% of the shares of Calucem for Euro150m from Ambienta SGR. The cement producer says that the acquisition will help it become the world’s second largest producer of calcium aluminate cements (CAC). The transaction is scheduled to complete in the last quarter of 2021 and it is subject to approval by competition authorities.

“This is a significant strategic step forward, expanding our activity in the specialty construction chemical sector. With Calucem, we will be able to build a platform focusing on innovation, sustainability and global growth,” said Julio Rodríguez, the chief executive officer of Cementos Molins.

Calucem has its headquarters in Mannheim, Germany. It operates a production plant in Pula, Croatia with a deep-sea port allowing it to export worldwide. It also runs an innovation centre in Germany as well as a network of sales offices and distribution centres in Europe, the US and Asia. Calucem has around 180 employees.

Pakistan: Research by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) think tank shows that the cement sector was the largest national emitter of CO₂ from coal in the financial year for 2018 – 2019. Coal was responsible for 19% of emissions in the reporting period. Cement comprised 49% of this followed by power generation at 28% and brick manufacture at 22%. The report looked at CO₂ emissions from the Pakistan energy sector. It concluded that the cement industry was often missed out in discussions about carbon emissions in the country despite its high coal consumption and the number of new plants currently being planned.

Spain: Cementos Molins’ sales grew by 33% year-on-year to Euro452m in the first half of 2021 from Euro341m in the same period in 2020. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 50% to Euro124m from Euro83m. Sales volumes of cement and ready-mixed concrete increased by 43% to 3.57Mt and 27% to 0.67Mm3 respectively. It attributed the growth in sales and earnings to higher sales volumes, price management and operational efficiency gains. However, it warned against mounting energy and logistics costs.

Thailand: Germany-based Schenck Process Group has reached an agreement to acquire Solids Handling and Process Engineering (SHAPE), a supplier of powder handling and powder processing products based in Bangkok. The purchase is intended to strengthen Schenck Process Group’s presence in equipment and food processing markets in Asia Pacific.