Egypt: IRSC for Renewable Energy Solutions has agreed to supply renewable electricity to El Nahda Cement under a long-term power purchase agreement linked to a new solar project it will develop and operate. The 30-year PPA was signed between El Nahda Industries and Cobalt, an IRSC subsidiary, at a ceremony attended by Egypt’s minister of public business sector Mohamed Sheimy. Under the agreement, Cobalt will finance, build and operate a 27MW solar power plant to supply El Nahda’s cement facility in Qena governorate. The project will be delivered through a public-private partnership structure, with El Nahda purchasing the renewable electricity at agreed prices over the contract term. Cobalt will be responsible for technical studies, financing, engineering, procurement, construction, operation and maintenance.

Sheimy said that switching to clean power would strengthen El Nahda’s competitiveness and support compliance with the EU’s carbon border mechanism. El Nahda’s cement plant in Qena has been operating since 2012 and has a cement production capacity of about 1.5Mt/yr.

Azerbaijan: Norm OJSC has completed a major project to expand clinker production capacity at its Norm cement plant. As a result, the plant’s clinker capacity has increased by 0.24Mt/yr, from 1.76Mt/yr to 2Mt/yr. The project was implemented with the participation of international partners, including China’s BTIEC and Germany-based equipment suppliers Gebr. Pfeiffer and Claudius Peters.

Henning Sasse, CEO of Norm OJSC, said “We decided to increase the plant’s production capacity, considering the expanding infrastructure needs and export opportunities of the country and the region. Increasing the clinker production capacity of the Norm Cement plant was an important step for us, both to meet domestic demand and to expand clinker export opportunities to foreign markets. This initiative will strengthen Azerbaijan’s industrial potential by ensuring that demand for cement and clinker within the country is fully met by local production over the next 15-20 years.”

Alongside the capacity expansion, the company has reduced the clinker ratio in cement production by 5% since 2024. This has allowed around 85,000t of clinker to be redirected into additional cement production, improving overall efficiency without increasing clinker output.

Argentina: The cement industry showed clear signs of recovery in 2025, reversing the contraction recorded over the previous two years, according to provisional data from Asociación de Fabricantes de Cemento Portland. Total cement despatches, including domestic sales and exports, rose by 6% year-on-year to 10.1Mt, compared with 9.56Mt in 2024. Cement consumption followed a similar trend, increasing by 6% to 10Mt. The rebound comes after a 3% decline between 2022 and 2023 and a 24% contraction from 2023 to 2024.

Monthly data throughout 2025 generally exceeded the figures in 2024, despite the usual seasonal slowdown at the end of the year. December 2025 despatches stood at 0.76Mt, slightly below the level recorded in December 2024.

Saudi Arabia: Riyadh Cement expects to fully rely on natural gas as a substitute for liquid fuel in its operations from the beginning of 2027, according to CEO Shoeil Al-Ayed. The company previously announced that it had signed a US$15.8m contract with Chengdu Design & Research Institute as part of its liquid fuel displacement programme. Riyadh Cement said the contractor has already taken over the site, begun implementation and received the advance payment in line with agreed terms.

Al-Ayed said “The cement sector during the third quarter of 2025 faced some challenges represented in high clinker inventory levels for most companies, which reflected an increase in supply exceeding the actual demand in the market.”

He added that the market had been subject to increasing pressures that led to a noticeable decline in selling costs, which had negatively impacted the profitability levels of cement companies during that period. It was also communicated that the shift to natural gas would be implemented in a single step rather than through a phased transition. The expected cost savings will reportedly depend on the gas price applied at the time, with no official accounting price yet communicated.