Bolivia: The Departmental Chamber of Construction of La Paz (CADECO La Paz) has warned of a ‘critical’ increase in the price of cement in 2025 and 2026. In a statement it reported that the cost had doubled from January 2025 to October 2026, according to the El Día newspaper. The association described the adjustment as disproportionate in relation to other costs. It is concerned that the increase will impact upon the entire construction sector.

CADECO La Paz has proposed dialogue with the cement sector and relevant government authorities to analyse the cost structure. It has also suggested setting up a working group to explore the matter with central, regional governments, suppliers and builders.

UK: Supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) supplier CemBlend and clay producer Hepworth Clay have launched a calcined clay product called HepCem. The partnership will make the SCM commercially available to cement and concrete producers in the UK at scale, as well as supplying bespoke blends of the material. It has been accredited by the Construction Products Certification (CPC) scheme, confirming conformity with the standard BS 8615-1:2019+A1:2026.

CemBlend director Simon Boulter said, "We’re all about identifying innovative materials and developing the blended solutions that can bring them into mainstream construction.” He continued, "HepCem is a great example of British manufacturing innovation. It has enormous potential to help reduce carbon emissions, provide an alternative to increasingly constrained supplies of traditional SCMs and strengthen UK construction supply chains.”

HepCem’s promoters say that it can also be incorporated into ternary and quaternary blended systems alongside other constituents, including limestone, ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) and pulverised fuel ash (PFA). This flexibility opens up a wide range of potential applications, including precast and structural concrete, infrastructure projects, mass concrete and other lower-clinker systems. HepCem can also be added separately at the batching plant and used in cement-combination routes under BS 8500, including CEM II/A-Q, CEM II/B-Q and calcined-clay/limestone combinations, subject to the relevant specification requirements.

Daniel Hannappel, CEO of Hepworth Clay, said: “It’s a material engineered from purpose-selected clay under carefully controlled conditions, so producers can rely on consistent quality and predictable performance in every batch.”

CemBlend sells a portfolio of lower-carbon materials and it specialises in bespoke powder blending and the development of low-carbon and clinker-free cement solutions.

UAE: Fujairah Cement Industries (FCI) has asked its shareholders for approval at its next annual general meeting (AGM) to sell its Clinker Production Unit 1 to trading company AUM Commodities. The 4500t/day line has reportedly only been used on a campaign basis since mid-2021. It was originally built in 1982. FCI’s integrated plant at Ghob, Dibba also has a second operational 7500t/day line that was built in 2010. The company’s next AGM will be held on 16 November 2026.

Portugal: Cimpor’s plant at Alhandra has been recognised as the oldest cement in the world to have continuous operations by Guiness World Records. The plant was originally founded in 1894 and it has remained operational ever since. In 2026 the unit has a production capacity of 2.8Mt/yr and it has 150 employees. Throughout its history, several generations of families have worked at the plant. The company says that this has contributed to its “strong relationship with the local community and to the economic and industrial development of the region.”

The cement plant become a part of Cimpor in 1976. That company and the Alhandra cement plant were acquired by Taiwan-based TCC Group in 2024.