Global Cement News

Norway: Norcem, part of Germany-based HeidelbergCement, has awarded a contract to Denmark-based FLSmidth to provide modifications to allow for downstream CO₂ removal at its integrated Brevik cement plant. The supplier will begin work in the unit’s winter 2022 shutdown. Its upcoming carbon capture and storage (CCS) installation is scheduled for commissioning in September 2024.

Norcem project manager Tor Gautestad said, “We are very excited to have FLSmidth on board and to finally begin the construction of the full-size installation.” He added, “FLSmidth’s extensive process knowledge, and air pollution control in particular, will be critical to the success of the project.”

Germany: Holcim Deutschland, part of Switzerland-based LafargeHolcim, has launched its new ECOPlanet Zero carbon neutral cement. The producer says that it will offset the product’s CO₂ emissions through a peatland rewetting service provided by MoorFutures. The cement also has a low clinker factor due to the use of ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS)-enriched binders.

Cement and binders sales director Matthias von der Brelje said “Holcim has been reducing the specific CO₂ emissions of binders very effectively for decades by using high-quality GGBFS.” He added, “In the future, we want to work with planners, contracting agencies and users to further advance the use of our CO₂-reduced binders. This helps our customers to realise their vision of sustainable building even better. In terms of product technology, the ECOPlanet series also has outstanding - and in some cases even better - properties than Portland cements, for example good workability, light colour, favourable heat development and high fatigue strength.”

Mexico: Holcim Mexico, part of Switzerland-based LafargeHolcim, has launched the new EcoEtiquetas label. The label designates products conforming to a set of ecological criteria set by the company. These include a certain level of recycled content or a reduced carbon footprint, as specified by the label on each product. The label is now found on Holcim Apasco, Maestro and Supra Cemento cement bags. These products say they offer CO₂ reductions from 30 – 60% compared to Ordinary Portland Cement.

Chief executive officer Jaime Hill Tinoco said, “This is one more step on our way to becoming a Net Zero Company, but also when our clients buy our cements with EcoEtiquetas, they will have the certainty that they are collaborating in the care of the environment by using or distributing products that have been thought not only in terms of quality and performance, but also in ensuring a better world for present and future generations.”

Turkey: Türkçimento, the Turkish Cement Manufacturers’ Association, says that it has held the sector’s first virtual cement conference and exhibition with the conclusion of Digitalcem on 21 April 2021. The event focused on the need to pioneer in the sector through innovative thinking. Topics included circular economy, sustainable and competitive products, green energy transformation, digital cement anddeveloping technologies. 22 companies hosted booths and over 360 participants took part in the two-day event.

Chair Tamer Saka said, “We keep close track of the European Union climate and environmental policies and the harmonisation process of Turkey’s cement sector, through the target of being a pioneer in our sector’s work performed within the framework of sustainability. In this scope, we started the Turkish Cement Sector Carbon Roadmap project at the end of 2020. We will present Turkey with the sector's roadmap by scrutinising the data on greenhouse gas emissions of almost all cement plants in Turkey.”

LafargeHolcim retained its ability to surprise this week with the news that it may be making preparations to leave Brazil. Local press in Minas Gerais revealed on 20 April 2021 that the company was about to try and sell its operations in the country. The building materials producer has not made a public statement yet on the matter, it may not until a deal is done and/or this could all be a great big misunderstanding. So treat the following with caution.

Firstly, LafargeHolcim deciding to sell in Brazil fits with the selective approach increasingly shown by the non-Chinese cement multinationals in recent years. It famously decided to sell up in South-East Asia from 2018 and it got as far as divesting assets in Indonesia and Malaysia. It also tried to sell in the Philippines but the local competition commission didn’t give permission for the proposed deal in the end. As Global Cement Weekly mentioned at the time this was a bold move and doing the same in Brazil seems similarly decisive now. It’s a big market to leave! CRH and HeidelbergCement have both talked openly as well about taking a value-first approach to their divestment strategies rather than trying to retain blanket coverage. However, just because a sale in Brazil by LafargeHolcim sounds right doesn’t mean it is right.

Secondly, data from the National Cement Industry Association (SNIC) shows that the Brazilian cement industry had a good year in 2020. Despite the relentlessly bad news from the coronavirus pandemic, the Brazilian government decided to keep the economy mostly open, allowing the cement industry to continue its recovery since 2018. The sector reported an 11% rise year-on-year in cement sales to 60Mt in 2020. So far in 2021 it has noted a 19% rise year-on-year to 15.3Mt in the first quarter of 2021. Yet, the association forecast slower growth in 2021 as a whole and has warned that the first quarter figures in 2021 don’t show a true picture due to a decline in sales per working day so far in 2021 despite an apparent growth in absolute figures. On the surface it’s a good time to sell cement assets in the country since the sector has been riding a recovery but the general outlook for the country is looking gloomy especially considering the ongoing scale of its coronavirus outbreak and the uncertain damage this may do to the economy as a whole.

Whether or not LafargeHolcim is actually selling up in Brazil or not it, follows the conclusion of the CRH Brazil acquisition by Buzzi Unicem’s Companhia Nacional de Cimento (CNC) joint-venture that was also announced this week after approval by the completion authority. The assets that CRH Brasil has now sold include three integrated cement plants and two grinding plants in the south-east of the country. The subsidiary sold approximately 2.8Mt of cement in 2020. If nothing else this suggests that there should be companies out there pursuing a different strategy to LafargeHolcim, CRH, HeidelbergCement and the rest who will be only too happy to build their portfolio if LafargeHolcim’s Brazilian business does go on sale.

CRH originally bought its plants in Brazil as part of a package deal when Lafarge and Holcim merged in 2015 and any potential sales by LafargeHolcim also link back to this. LafargeHolcim has spent much of the last six years working out what kind of company it wants to be. Certainly, since the current chief executive officer Jan Jenisch took charge it has had the air of a company with a mission. The Firestone Building Products acquisition earlier in 2021 is an example of this, propelling the group away from the triad of cement, concrete and aggregates as the carbon risks of heavy building materials heat up. There is something fitting perhaps that at the company’s next annual general meeting its shareholders will be asked whether they want to change the company’s name to Holcim at the group level. It’s a small thing, all market brands will remain as they are, but it may bookend the post-merger era as much as asset divestments in Indonesia and... potentially Brazil.