02 February 2022
Worker killed at UltraTech Cement’s Jafrabad plant in Gujarat 02 February 2022
India: One worker has been killed and two injured at UltraTech Cement’s Jafrabad plant in Gujarat. Police report that during the incident hot liquid raw material fell on the workers as they cleaned a silo during a plant shutdown, according to the Times of India newspaper. The accident took place on 30 January 2022. The investigation continues.
South African cement imports rise by 18.7% to November 2021 02 February 2022
South Africa: Data from Industry Insight shows that cement imports grew by 18.7% year-on-year to 1.1Mt in the first 11 months of 2021. Imports hit a monthly high of 162,000t in November 2021, according to Moneyweb. The majority of the imports came from Vietnam followed by Pakistan. The increase in imports in November 2021 appears to have occurred despite a ban on the use of imported cement on all government-funded projects that started in the same month. Bryan Perrie, the head of Cement & Concrete SA, said that it was likely that imports in November 2021 remained high is because the cement was “probably already on the water before the designation came in."
Sumitomo Osaka Cement introduces internal carbon pricing system 02 February 2022
Japan: Sumitomo Osaka Cement started using an internal carbon pricing system for capital investments from January 2022. It is intended to create economic incentives for emission reductions and promote low-carbon investment. The starting price will be around Euro39/t of CO2. The measure follows the company’s introduction of its 2050 carbon neutral goals and policies in late 2020.
Professor Karen Scrivener promotes calcined clay production in Ghana 02 February 2022
Ghana: Professor Karen Scrivener has paid a working visit to the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA). The visit was part of a tour by Scrivener to Ghana to discuss innovations in cement and cementitious products and to introduce Limestone Calcined Clay Cement (LC3) to the authority, according to the Ghana News Agency. The Head of Laboratory of Construction Materials at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland met with GSA management and staff of the Building and Civil Engineering Lab at the Authority's Head Office in Accra. Scrivener noted that she was interested in learning more and engaging with the GSA on standards and its testing capabilities as well as a potential collaboration in capacity building in cement and cementitious products.