Syria: The country is relying on Iraq and nearby countries for fuel and clinker imports to operate its cement plants amid an ongoing fuel oil shortage, according to General Company for Cement and Building Materials head Mahmoud Fadila.

Fadila told state media that plants have shifted to coal temporarily and are importing clinker from Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye to maintain local supply. Syria currently produces 10,000t/day of cement, or 3.6Mt/yr, far short of the 8-9Mt/yr needed for reconstruction.

In October 2025, Damascus approved a major investment from Iraq’s Vertex Group to rehabilitate and expand the third line at the Hama Cement Plant. The project will raise its capacity from 3300t/day to 11,000t/day with the addition of a new 6000t/day line.

Europe: PyroGenesis has signed a €815,000 contract with an undisclosed European cement industry customer to supply a plasma torch system for the electrification of a calciner. The torch will be powered using captured CO₂ in a closed-loop system, redirecting emissions from other processes to heat the kiln. The client will conduct a nine-month test as part of a multi-year initiative aimed at replacing fossil fuel combustion with electric heating in cement production, with delivery scheduled for the third quarter of 2026. The project marks a step up from earlier low-kilowatt trials to megawatt-scale testing, with the eventual goal of building a plasma-driven rotary kiln for industrial-scale calcination.

Türkiye: Medcem has shipped its first 20,000t of CEM I 52.5 N cement to its new terminal in Antwerp, Belgium, with discharge scheduled for 8 December 2025, according to Platts, part of S&P Global Energy. A second shipment of 5000t to the company’s new terminal in Trieste, Italy, will discharge during the week of 15 December 2025. Business development and investment director Enver Celikbas said that the company has three terminals in the UK, and that it plans to send its first vessel to Glasgow at the beginning of 2026. Medcem plans to export 70,000-100,000t of cement to Antwerp and 60,000-80,000t to Trieste in 2026.

Celikbas said “We are looking to become a more vertically-integrated company, which helps us manage our costs, operations, and supply. It's like a hedging strategy that we initiated after commissioning our new 9000t/day kiln.”

He added that an upgrade to Medcem’s clinker kilns will be completed by the end of 2026 and that the company is seeking new sources of supplementary cementitious materials to boost supply. All supply will continue to come from Medcem’s plant in Türkiye unless otherwise required.

Celikbas added “We are continuously searching and negotiating various projects and hope to sign for our third terminal in Europe very soon.”

Iraq: Saman Cement has awarded a contract for the supply of a MVR 5000 R-4 vertical roller mill from Gebr. Pfeiffer for the second production line at its plant in Al Mothanna Province. The mill will grind 450t/hr of cement raw material, drying feed with 6.7% moisture to below 1%. It features a 4000kW drive and an SLS 4000 VR classifier. This follows nearly a decade of operation by a Gebr. Pfeiffer MPS 5000 B mill on the plant’s first line. Sinoma International Engineering is acting as general contractor. Commissioning is scheduled for the first half of 2027.