India: Finance company ICRA reported all-India cement sales in the first half of the 2022 financial year of 124Mt, up by 22% year-on-year. Mint News has reported that the total value of cement sales rose by 5% in the period compared to the first half of the 2021 financial year. Producers’ raw materials costs rose by 16%, while power, coal and petcoke costs rose by 26% and freight costs rose by 7%. Granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS) and gypsum prices also rose.

ICRA corporate ratings assistant vice president and sector head Anupama Reddy said "Despite some easing in the cost-side pressures, the input costs are likely to remain elevated in the near term, and are expected to exert pressure on operating margins, which are likely to decline by 200 to 230 basis points (BPS) in the 2022 financial year as a whole. While the capacity additions are expected to increase year-on-year in the 2022 financial year, the reliance on debt is likely to be lower owing to the healthy cash generation and strong liquidity of the cement companies. The debt coverage metrics are expected to remain strong in the 2022 financial year."

US: Conveyor Components Company has announced its launch of Model DB, a conveyor belt rip detector. The equipment relies on a cable pull concept to trip the belt drive. Different microswitch options allow customers to choose from four circuit designs. Thus, instead of shutdown, an alarm response is possible. The supplier says that the technology offers similar performance to embedded coil devices.

Europe: Cembureau has announced the launch of its Map of Innovation Projects interactive map. The feature maps past and current sustainability-enhancing projects at European cement plants. It currently displays a total of 53 different projects. It is available here.

Azerbaijan: Cement companies produced 3.19Mt of cement in the first 11 months of 2021, up by 3.4% year-on-year from 3.09Mt. On 1 December 2021, total cement reserves in stockpiles were 113,000t. Ready-mix concrete production rose in the first 11 months of 2021 by 2.9% to 986,000m3 from 937,000m³, while precast concrete production more than doubled to 301,000m3 from 143,000m³.