Congo: Nigeria-based Dangote Cement has announced that it will begin shipping cement produced at its 1.5Mt/yr integrated Mfila plant in Bouenza region, Congo, to other African countries.
Reuters News has reported that Dangote Cement’s Nigerian exports fell by 41% to 0.5Mt in 2019 from 0.8Mt in 2018. Dangote Cement CEO Joseph Makoju attributed the flop to the government’s closure of Nigeria’s border with Benin, part of a crackdown on smuggling and the illegal weapons trade.
Ireland/UK: Quinn Building Products has launched ‘Self Build with Quinn,’ an initiative aimed at promoting thermal efficiency and sustainability in self-builders’ product choices with a range of bundles and discounts on Quinn building products and technical support with dedicated account management. Quinn Building Products Product and Specification Manager Jason Martin said, “Self Build with Quinn can help self builders achieve the balance between their hopes for a high-performance home which is better for the environment and provides comfortable, economical living with their budget.”
Germany: Switzerland-based LafargeHolcim subsidiary Holcim Deutschland has publicised further details of its plan to make its low-CO2 concrete, EcoPact Zero, carbon neutral. It has partnered with German bog rewetting specialist MoorFutures to offset the remaining CO2 from the reduced-emissions production process of EcoPact Zero concrete. LafargeHolcim has purchased a climate protection certificate from the company, which in return is restoring enough peatland in Königsmoor, Schleswig-Holstein, to capture 1t of CO2 for every Euro64 it receives. MoorFutures says “Peatlands are the most effective CO2 stores on Earth.”
Gabon: Dangote Cement has shared plans for the construction of a 1.1Mt/yr grinding plant on a greenfield site near the New Owendo Internation Port in Owendo, Komo-Mondah department. Dangote Cement has stated that the US$75m facility, scheduled for completion in early-2021, will ‘close the cement production gap in this emerging country.’ It will supply cement to Gabon and the central African region.
