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UK faces short-term cement shortage 14 May 2021
UK: The Mineral Products Association (MPA) has warned of the likelihood of a short-term shortage of cement. It identified the cause of a probable shortage as the rise in construction leading to record cement demand. Bagged cement, of which the industry delivers 12.0Mt/yr, is most at risk of running out. The Daily Telegraph newspaper has reported that domestic projects are rising most sharply due to the deployment of the Euro232bn of costs saved during coronavirus lockdowns, and the recommencement of suspended projects from the same periods.
MPA chief executive officer Nigel Jackson said “We appear to be coming out of this period of Covid-19 lockdowns; the roadmap is on course; people's confidence and optimism is growing. A lot of people have been confined to their homes and taken the decision to invest in improving because they're not moving.”
Mexico: Cemex has partnered with UK-based oil company BP to accelerate the progress of its ambition for net-zero CO2 concrete by 2050. The partners have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop cement production and transport decarbonisation solutions. Such solutions include the transition to reduced-emissions power and vehicles, energy efficiency-improvements, carbon capture and storage (CCS) and carbon offsetting. In addition, the companies will collaborate on urbanisation solutions to decarbonise cities.
Sustainability, commercial, and operations development executive vice president Juan Romero said “Concrete plays an integral role in society, and there are no substitutes for its key attribute – strength and resilience. We believe it will continue to have a critical role in a low carbon economy, and the challenge for the industry is to find solutions to the manufacturing process emissions.” He added “This initiative with BP is another example of the work we are doing with partners across industries, academia, and startups to tap into the latest innovation and disruptive technology to achieve our ambition of delivering net-zero CO2 concrete globally to all of our customers.”
Switzerland: LafargeHolcim subsidiary Holcim Schweiz’s Eclépens cement plant generated 443,000kWh of energy via its waste heat recovery (WHR) plant in April 2021. The company said that the energy was enough to power 1000 households for the month. The figure brings the plant’s four-month 2021 total energy generation to over 1,000,000kWh. The producer said that the positive trend puts it on course to achieve its annual target of 4,000,000kWh in 2021.
India: Birla Corporation’s board of directors has approved the issuance of up to US$27.3m-worth of secured redeemable non-convertible debentures (NCDs). The Telegraph newspaper has reported that the company will issue the NCDs in one or more tranches before May 2022.
Malayan Cement to acquire YTL Cement’s Malaysian cement and ready-mix concrete operations 14 May 2021
Malaysia: Malayan Cement has agreed to acquire YTL Cement’s cement and ready-mix concrete operations in Malaysia. MarketLine News has reported the value of the deal as US$1.25bn.