Articles on the cement industry from Global Cement

The use of Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCMs), such as slags and fly ash, in cement blends is a well-established methodology for reducing clinker factor while imparting beneficial properties to the eventual concrete product. Here Global Cement speaks to Charlie Zeynel of ZAG International Pty. Ltd., a company that sources, markets and sells a full range of minerals and raw materials as well as intermediate and finished products to a wide range of industries. What are the current trends and what can we expect from the SCM markets in the future?

Global seaborne cement and clinker trading volumes are relatively small compared to global production levels but they are strategically important and have a significant impact on the profitability of the companies involved. Here, Ad Ligthart from Cement Distribution Consultants presents the latest cement and clinker trade patterns, with a focus on Chinese over-capacity and rapidly-developing import markets in Africa and the US.

As VDZ members sit down at the VDZ Annual Cement Conference on 27 - 28 September 2016, they will be doing so in one of the most technologically-advanced, environmentally-conscious and competitive cement industries in the world, as well as in a country where cement demand could be set to increase in light of massive new infrastructure spending...

The UK, EU and much of the rest of the world is still reeling from the UK’s shock decision to leave the EU in a referendum held on 23 June 2016. Although the country already has a new Prime Minister and the Pound has fallen somewhat against the Euro and US Dollar, the full economic and political effects of the decision, nicknamed ‘Brexit,’ will take years to unfold. Here Global Cement takes the views of Edwin Trout of the Cement Industry Suppliers’ Forum (CISF) in the UK, with his comments coming just days after the vote.

Total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions continue to rise despite the considerable efforts of a growing number of sustainability leaders. Under the current trajectory, temperatures are predicted to rise by almost 5°C by the end of the 21st Century, well beyond levels identified as ‘safe.’ With the legally-binding deal to limit global warming to 2°C signed in Paris in April 2016, how can cement companies prepare for future conditions...?