Thailand: Siam Cement Group (SCG) plans to spend US$2bn towards meeting its CO₂ reduction target by 2030. The industrial group and cement producer intends to reduce its emissions by 20% by the end of the decade, according to the Bangkok Post newspaper. Chief executive officer Roongrote Rangsiyopash, said that the investment will be made from 2022 to 2030 and that it follows the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), the Thai government's bio, circular and green (BCG) economic model and environmental, social and governance standards (ESG). After 2030 the group has a net zero goal for 2050.

In cement production the SCG wants to increase its rate of alternative fuels such as biomass and refuse-derived fuel. It also wants to invest in carbon capture utilisation and storage, use electric vehicles and use artificial intelligence systems in energy management. The group plans to reduce coal usage at its cement plants in Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Indonesia by 50% in 2022. It also plans to use more electricity generated by renewable energy for its factories.

Germany: Opterra has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Statkraft for the supply of electricity from onshore wind farms. The renewable energy producer will supply around 30GWh to the subsidiary of CRH’s integrated cement plants at Karsdorf in Saxony-Anhalt, Wössingen in Baden-Württemberg and a grinding plant at Sötenich in North Rhine-Westphalia between 2022 and 2025. The wind power will be generated at four wind farms.

Saudi Arabia: Yanbu Cement has completed an upgrade project to Line 4 at its integrated plant. It previously, in April 2021, reported delays to the work due to difficulty obtaining spare parts. The cement producer says that the cost of the project remains unchanged.

Trinidad & Tobago: The government has reacted to a 15% rise in the price of cement by increasing imports and delaying an increase in taxes on the commodity. The country’s sole producer, Trinidad Cement (TCL), says that its price rise is set to start on 20 December 2021, according to the Trinidad Express newspaper. It has blamed this on mounting input costs such as gas, spare parts and other materials.

However, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) told the cement producer that it viewed any price rise as ‘unacceptable’ given that 90% of inputs to production were local. In response the government has doubled the quota for cement imports to 150,000t in 2022 with each individual importer receiving a 50% boost to their own quotas. It has also agreed with the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to suspend the Common External Tariff (CET) on hydraulic cement and a planned rise in the duty to 20% for one year to the end of 2022.

TCL’s competitor Rock Hard Cement, a cement importer, ended local operations in August 2021 after losing a court case against the country’s Ministry of Trade and Industry in July 2021.