Togo: HeidelbergCement has announced plans to bring the capacity of its subsidiary Cimtogo’s grinding plant in Lomé up to 1.6Mt/yr from 0.6Mt/yr at an investment of Euro27.0m. Agencé Ecofin has reported that this will bring the German group’s total investment in Cimtogo to Euro225m since its acquisition in 2012.

Gabon: Gabon produced 0.42Mt in 2019, exceeding production figures for 2018 of 0.33Mt by 21%. Sales were US$50.6m – up by 16% from US$42.5m. Direct newspaper attributed the growth to both domestic producers, reporting that CimGabon has improved the efficient use of production equipment, while CIMAF also ramped up production.

China: Preliminary calculations from Huaxin Cement’s financial division have projected a net profit attributable to shareholders for 2019 of between US$0.88bn and US$0.95bn – an increase of 18% - 28% year-on-year from US$0.74bn. The company attributed the forecasted rise to an increase in the production and sales scale of its leading products.

China Cement Association Information Centre deputy director and Digital Cement Network CEO Chen Bailin estimated that demand will remain steady across China in 2020, according to Yicai News.

Japan: Ofunato biomass power plant began generating electricity on 1 January 2020. The 75MW plant is the result of a 65:35 partnership between Taiheiyo Cement and electrical engineering firm Elex formed in July 2016, with a total investment of US$36.5m. It will primarily burn coconut matter to provide electricity for sale and supply to Taiheiyo Cement’s 1.9Mt/yr integrated Ofunato plant. Taiheiyo Cement says that its will generate 520,000MWh/yr, replacing fossil fuels responsible for 0.3Mt/yr of CO2 emissions.