09 June 2022

India: UltraTech Cement has entered into a collaboration with Finland-based Coolbrook to implement the latter’s roto dynamic heater (RDH) electric kiln technology in Indian cement plants. RDH technology uses renewable power to heat kilns to up to 1700°C.

UltraTech Cement managing director Kailash Jhanwar said “UltraTech is a forerunner in utilising renewable energy in its manufacturing operations. We are constantly looking at opportunities to improve process efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from our operations.” Jhanwar concluded “We believe that our collaboration with Coolbrook will help to further accelerate the decarbonisation of our operations.”

Coolbrook executive chair Ilpo Kuokkanen said “India is one of the most important potential markets for Coolbrook, as we want to make a global impact on CO₂ emission reductions. Cooperation with India’s largest cement producer UltraTech is a significant step in our strategy to decarbonise heavy industry processes globally. UltraTech is also an excellent addition to our comprehensive and responsive partnership ecosystem spanning across leading industrial actors, academic institutions, and the public sector.”

India: Ramco Cements plans to make capital expenditure (CAPEX) investments of US$154 – 167m in the 2023 and 2024 financial years. At the beginning of the 2023 financial year on 1 April 2022, Ramco Cements’ net debt was US$489m. It plans to pay back US$64.3m during the current financial year, with the ultimate aim of becoming net debt-free before the 2026 financial year.

Belgium/France: Ciments Calcia plans to transition 60% of its truck transport of cement in Belgium and France to rail. The company says that the shift will eliminate 5% of its CO₂ emissions. 400 rail cars currently distribute cement from Ciments Calcia’s 10 production sites. The producer said that the planned increase became possible due to logistics solutions developer Everysens’ transport digitisation software.

UK: The UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has granted Carbon Clean Euro701,000 under its Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) Innovation 2.0 programme. Carbon Clean says that it will partner with energy engineering company Doosan Babcock and Newcastle University to develop carbon capture systems which apply non-aqueous solvent (NAS) and rotating packed bed (RPB) technology together for the first time. The partners seek to overcome the challenges of scale and cost in order to advance the widespread deployment of CCUS systems.

The CCUS Innovation 2.0 programme is part of the UK government’s Euro1.17bn Net Zero Innovation Portfolio scheme.

South Korea: Korea Cement Association (KCA) members’ cement shipments fell by 90% over two days to 13,000t on 8 June 2022 from 180,000t/day prior to a truck driver strike which began on 7 June 2022. The association claimed that producers lost US$23m-worth of sales in the first two days of the strike, which also affects other industries. 17 ready-mix concrete batching plants in the Seoul area have suspended operations. The Korea Herald newspaper has reported that the association representing the construction industry has also voiced concerns about the supply situation.