Brazil: Cement sales rose by 21% year-on-year to 5.8Mt in September 2020 from 4.8Mt in September 2019. Data from the National Cement Industry Union (SNIC) shows that sales increased by 9.4% year-on-year to 44.6Mt in the first nine months of 2020 from 40.8Mt in the same period in 2019. Particular gains for the year to date were noted in the North-East and Central-West regions. SNIC has attributed the sales growth to government support for civil construction.

“The results are surprising so far, but that doesn't give us security in the long run,” said Paulo Camillo Penna, president of SNIC. “Sales are being sustained, in the great majority, by real estate construction, the maintenance of the pace of works and small residential reforms and also in the commercial activity that already presents a decline in consumption due to its operation,” However he also noted that activity had been, “subjected to a huge and unexpected pressure of demand, especially since June 2020.” As such SNIC has called for resumption of infrastructure work to stabilise demand.

Germany: Cemex Zement has announced the start of carbon-neutral building materials development at its 1.9Mt/yr Rüdersdorf, Brandenburg cement plant. Called Vision Rüdersdorf, the project consists of, “the comprehensive investigation of various approaches to breakthrough technologies in order to prevent process-related carbon dioxide (CO₂) from entering the atmosphere, but to use it for beneficial purposes. The investigation areas can be divided into capture, storage or use of CO₂. This will help towards Cemex’s target of 55% CO₂ emissions reduction across Europe by 2030 and its commitment to deliver carbon-neutral concrete by 2050.

Chief executive officer (CEO) Rüdiger Kuhn said, “For years, sustainable success has been achieved here in the reduction of fossil fuels and in the selection of alternative recipe ingredients for cement. The experienced team is always looking for possible improvements. When it came to determining the best possible CO₂ emission values, the Rüdersdorf plant was always at the forefront of the European cement industry and has thus also earned an excellent reputation in the global Cemex organisation.”

In order to realise Vision Rüdersdorf, the producer has partnered with companies from other industries. Managing director and plant manager Stefan Schmorleiz said, “In an interesting approach, the CO₂ that we capture is used as a raw material for downstream processes in the chemical industry. Another approach is to innovate in the storage of CO₂. With these efforts, and our commitment to review and invest in these technologies, Cemex Zement is making a contribution to the decarbonisation of the cement industry.”

South Africa: PPC recorded sales of US$618m in the 2020 financial year, which ended 31 March 2020, down by 2.4% year-on-year from US$634m in the 2019 financial year. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation fell by 17% to US$97.0m from US$118m.

Chief executive officer (CEO) Roland van Wijnen said, “The 2020 financial year was characterised by difficult trading conditions, especially in South Africa. The global Covid-19 pandemic, which emerged during the last month of the financial year, further exacerbated an already difficult trading cycle. While we have seen a decline in our financial performance, we also see that the actions we have taken to reposition PPC to deliver sustainable value for all our stakeholders are beginning to yield results.”

He added, “After the resumption of trading in the 2021 financial year, the performance across all of our core businesses has been encouraging. The group’s capital restructuring remains a key priority. Over the next nine months, we will take the strategic and operational actions needed to improve the group’s financial position and performance. It is encouraging to see how PPC employees have come together to drive performance to sustain our purpose to empower people to experience a better quality of life.”

Bangladesh: Production at Premier Cement’s new plants at Narayanganj and Chattogram has been delayed until November 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Mohammed Amirul Haque, managing director of the cement producer, said that the projects have been delayed due to the absence of some technical personnel from China and Denmark, according to the Daily Star newspaper. The units were originally scheduled to start commercial production in June 2020 but this is now expected to start in December 2020. Both plants have a combined budget of around US$150m. Denmark-based FLSmidth was reported to be supplying mills for the plants.