Global Cement News

India: Larsen & Toubro has won a contract for the construction of a 3.5Mt/yr-capacity integrated cement plant at Nimbahera in Rajasthan. The Press Trust of India newspaper has reported that the supplier classed the order’s value as ‘significant,’ meaning between US$134m and US$336m.

Spain: Domestic cement consumption was 3.38Mt in the first quarter of 2021, up by 8% year-on-year from 3.12Mt in 2020. The Spanish Cement Industry Association (Oficemen) partly attributed the increase to export growth, to 665,000t in March 2021, up by 18% from March 2020 levels.

President Víctor Brosa said, ‘A stable year is expected in 2021 compared to 2020 despite the uncertainty surrounding the arrival of funds to reactivate the economy and the evolution of the pandemic."

Malaysia: Malayan Cement is expected to raise US$55.0m through a proposed placement of 10% of its shares. Bernama Daily Malaysian News has reported that the company plans to use US$13.1m as working capital. The remainder will repay its bank debts.

Philippines: Holcim Philippines, part of Switzerland-based LafargeHolcim, has announced the launch of its new Holcim Aqua X concrete. The product contains ‘active water-repellent boosters’ giving it increased resistance to water damage.

The BusinessWorld newspaper has reported that president and chief executive officer Horia-Ciprian Adrian said that Aqua X ‘highlights our great advantage in developing exciting products.’ He added that the product outperforms other concretes on environmental indicators due to its low clinker factor.

Senegal: China-based Sinoma Group subsidiary CBMI Construction has awarded a contract to Denmark-based FLSmidth for the supply of three control systems for one new and two existing lines at the Kirène cement plant in Thiès region. The lines will share a digital infrastructure built on the FLSmidth ECS/ControlCenter platform with ECS/PlantDataManagement software. Additionally, the supplier will equip the new Line 3 with its ECS/CemScanner and QCX/BlendExpert. It said that the setup will use 12,000 data points on Line 3 alone.

Group digital general manager Jens Adler said, “With more than 1500 active product and process control installations in the cement industry, this order reaffirms our strong digital expertise.” He added “Digitalisation is transforming how many in the cement industry respond to increasing demands for emission reductions and efficiency. This is reflected in the emphasis on digital solutions as part of our MissionZero ambition to offer cement producers zero emission cement production by 2030.”