Philippines: The Philippines Department of Trade and Industry has enacted a temporary duty on some imports of cement from Vietnam. The Manila Times newspaper has reported that the measure will be in force until April 2022 and only apply to ‘dumped’ cement. Importers will pay a duty of between US$1.02/t and US$10.50/t on ordinary Portland cement and between US$1.16/t and US$12.80/t on blended cement.

The measure follows a probe carried out on the basis of a petition by domestic cement producers APO Cement, Holcim Philippines, Republic Cement and Solid Cement. The probe found that the domestic cement industry had suffered a loss of market share and declining domestic sales between July 2019 and December 2020.

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said "We do not anticipate that these duties will result in an increase in the retail price of cement, because its effect on landed cost is minimal.” He added “Any price increases in imported cement will be discouraged by competition from domestic cement producers. The provisional anti-dumping duties will be imposed only on specific Vietnamese exporters found to be dumping cement to the Philippines. Vietnamese exporters who are not dumping can continue to export cement without having to post the provisional anti-dumping cash bond.”

India: The Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) has certified the sustainability claims of Dalmia Cement’s portfolio of blended cements. The portfolio consists of composite cement, Portland pozzolan cement and Portland slag cement. The council employed a full-cycle assessment of the cements’ impacts.

Head of sales, marketing and logstics Sanjay Wali said “We see GreenPro’s accreditation as a milestone in our journey to becoming carbon-negative by 2040. This also reaffirms our blended cement products’ green supremacy, which is accelerating the global transition from a grey to green reality.”

India: Udaipur Cement Works has increased its solar power generation capacity by 43% through the installation of a new 4.35MW solar power plant at its Udaipur cement plant in Rajasthan. The 1.4Mt/yr cement plant now has a total solar power capacity of 14.5MW. Udaipur Cement Works says that solar power generated at the plant will reduce it operations’ CO₂ footprint by 14,000t/yr.

Kenya: Affordable housing joint venture 14Trees and UK-based development finance company CDC Group have 3D printed a complex of 52 houses near Kilifi, Kilifi county. The development, called Mvule Gardens, uses an IFC-EDGE Advanced-certified sustainable design to support the ecological regeneration of its locale. Swtizerland-based Holcim, which holds a stake in 14Trees, supplied its TectorPrint ink for use in buildings’ walls to increase strength.

Holcim CEO Jan Jenisch said “We are excited to be building one of the world’s largest 3D-printed affordable housing projects in Kenya. With today’s rapid urbanisation, over 3bn people are expected to need affordable housing by 2030. This issue is most acute in Africa, with countries like Kenya already facing an estimated shortage of 2m houses. By deploying 3D printing, we can address this infrastructure gap at scale, to increase living standards for all.”