India: Aditya Birla subsidiary UltraTech Cement said that it will spend US$200m in capital expenditure (CAPEX) during the 2021 financial year, which ends on 31 March 2021. The plans consist of a capacity expansion to 118Mt/yr from 115Mt/yr, including the completion of the 4.0Mt/yr Bara grinding plant in Uttar Pradesh and 1.2Mt/yr-worth of brownfield projects in Bihar and West Bengal. Solar and wind power capacity will increase to 350MW from 95MW, while waste heat recovery (WHR) capacity will increase to 185MW from 118MW.

Chair Kumar Birla said, “While 2021 will be a challenging year, Birla remains confident that the economy will revert to the 6 - 8% growth trajectory in 2022.”

Russia: Vostokcement subsidiary Teploozorsky Cement has engaged FLSmidth to complete two hot kiln alignments at its integrated Teploozorsky Cement plant in Oblu, Khabarovsk Krai following inspections. Vostokcement said that the plant’s second and third rotary kilns will need to undergo the process of adjustments to their axis and axial balance, in order to eliminate stresses to the kiln body.

Russia: Eurocement subsidiary Kavkazcement produced 0.89Mt of cement in the first seven months of 2020, up by 10% year-on-year from the corresponding period of 2019. General director Nikolay Muradov said, “Despite the difficult epidemiological situation in the region and in the country, Kavkazcement ensured the stability of production processes and increased production. This was made possible by product quality control and systematic work aimed at increasing efficiency at all stages of production, introducing advanced technologies and the high-quality servicing of equipment.”

Dominican Republic: Domestic cement production declined by 24% year-on-year to 2.1Mt in the first half of 2020 from 2.8Mt in the first half of 2019, corresponding to 62% capacity utilisation. Domestic consumption over the period also fell, by 20% year-on-year.