The Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (CEMAP) revealed this week that it has nearly completed its decarbonisation roadmap. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been proactive as a region in drawing up plans to decarbonise its cement sector. Notably, the Thai industry released its roadmap in 2024 and the ASEAN Federation of Cement Manufacturers (AFCM) released its 2035 AFCM Decarbonisation Roadmap in December 2025.
In the Philippines the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), in partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), announced the launch of the development process for the Philippines Cement Decarbonisation Roadmap in October 2025. At the time, it said that the local sector produced over 27Mt of cement in 2024 from a production capacity of 53Mt/yr. That last figure is likely to include cement grinding plants since the Global Cement Directory 2025 placed local integrated capacity at 32Mt/yr. Little information on what this roadmap might contain has emerged so far, but CEMAP president Reinier Dizon told local press this week that increasing the use of alternative fuels was going to be the main action plan.
Clear figures for the alternative fuels thermal substitution rates (TSR) in the cement industry in the Philippines are hard to find publicly. However, Cemex Philippines reported a 28% TSR in 2022. There have been plenty of news stories demonstrating activity though. For example, Holcim Philippines signed a deal with Prime Infrastructure Capital in November 2025 for the supply of refuse-derived fuel (RDF) to its cement plants in Bulacan and La Union. Holcim Philippines could be seen preparing for this back in mid-2024 when it said it was investing US$6.5m to upgrade the La Union plant and increase the use of alternative fuels and raw materials to 40%. Other companies have also been busy, including the recycling arm of Republic Cement, Ecoloop, which stated that it had used 110,000t of plastic sachets in 2023 as fuel in its kilns. Similarly, Cemex Philippines and its Regenera waste management subsidiary struck a deal with snack food and beverage brand Oishi in 2024 to take its plastic waste. Cemex Philippines was subsequently divested and rebranded as Concreat Holdings Philippines later that same year.
When the AFCM launched its 2035 AFCM Decarbonisation Roadmap, it described it as the world’s first regional decarbonisation strategy for the cement sector. The public version doesn’t contain a TSR target but it does say that alternative fuels are expected to cut CO2 emissions by 15.4Mt by 2035. The focus is on biomass, refuse-derived fuel and industrial waste.
One of the leaders in the region has been the Thai Cement Manufacturers Association (TCMA). It published the Thailand 2050 Net Zero Cement & Concrete Roadmap in late 2024. It currently has an alternative fuels TSR target of 54% by 2050. The TCMA said at the 26th Technical Symposium & Exhibition of the ASEAN Federation of Cement Manufacturers (AFCM), which took place in Kuala Lumpur in late 2024, that the country was on course for a TSR of 34% in 2024. Both Siam Cement Group (SCG) and Siam City Cement (INSEE) reported TSRs of just below 29% in 2024. Asia Cement’s Pukrang plant had a TSR of 27% in 2025, for example, and is now aiming at above 60% by 2030. For more on this read the report in the February 2026 issue of Global Cement Magazine.
Meanwhile, also this week, the NITI Aayog public policy think tank of the Government of India, published its roadmap for the local cement sector too. This is on a similar scale to the ASEAN Roadmap as a whole given the large size of the cement industry in India. It is the second largest in the world. The key takeaway on alternative fuels is a target of 20% RDF usage by 2030. The other major point is that this roadmap aims at net zero by 2070.
The summary for most of these roadmaps for the cement industry is to take the tested, ‘easier’ and cheaper measures first. So, increase the use of alternative fuels, reduce the clinker factor through the use of supplementary cementitious materials and then finish the job with carbon capture. The devil is in the detail though with wide regional differences on how to approach the first two, even between cement plants in the same country. The final one, carbon capture, is barely tested commercially. In 2024 Cement Europe (formerly Cembureau) reported that the European Union had a mean TSR of 58%. Cement plants in both the ASEAN and India have great potential to increase their TSRs and this is being shown in the roadmaps.
The 1st CemFuels Asia Conference takes place in Bangkok on 2 - 3 February 2026
