Global Cement News

UK: Saxlund has appointed Karen Moore as the chief operating officer of its UK operations. She was previously the finance manager for the company. She holds experience working in a range of financial and management roles across industrial companies, following a career that started in accountancy firms. Moore will report to UK chief executive officer Matt Drew. His job title has changed from managing director to reflect the strategic nature of his responsibilities to the business and as member of the Saxlund Group senior executive management team.

UK: Aggregate Industries’ Cauldon cement plant in Staffordshire has become the first industrial facility to operate a PRISMA liquid air energy storage system. Green technology developer Innovatium developed the product in collaboration with the University of Birmingham. The supplier says that it can deliver 25% energy savings for air compression and will help Aggregate Industries to realise its 2030 goal of 500kg/t of CO₂ emissions for its cementitious products.

Aggregate Industries sustainability director Kirstin McCarthy said “We are very proud to be the first partner to install the PRISMA system in an operational environment. Aggregate Industries is committed to transitioning to net zero, and supporting innovations like PRISMA is vital in helping us achieve that goal. McCarthy continued “We believe PRISMA can play a major role in addressing the ‘energy trilemma’ of managing energy efficiency, energy cost and energy security, and we're confident that its installation at Cauldon will further prove its decarbonisation credentials - a big step towards full commercialisation of the technology.”

Ireland: CRH has completed its divestment of its building envelope business. The group has reported the value of the deal as US$3.8bn.

In February 2022, CRH said that it had entered into a binding agreement to divest the building envelope business to US-based private equity firm KPS Capital Partners. It added that the decision to divest at an ‘attractive valuation’ followed a comprehensive review, demonstrating its active approach to portfolio management, the efficient allocation of capital and the creation of a simpler and more focused group.

China: CNBM’s total operating revenue fell by 1% year-on-year to US$7.29bn in the first quarter of 2022 from US$7.254bn in the same period in 2021. Its operating costs grew by 3% to US$6.90bn. Its net profit fell by 9% to US$420m from US$462m.

China: Anhui Conch’s revenue fell by 26% year-on-year to US$3.85bn in the first quarter of 2022 from US$5.21bn in the same period in 2021. Its net profit fell by 14% to US$773m from US$900m. However, its operating costs fell by 29% to US$2.96bn from US$4.16bn.