17 April 2023

Brazil: Data from the Brazilian National Cement Industry Association (SNIC) shows that total cement sales fell by 1.2% year-on-year to 14.7Mt in the first three months of 2023 from 14.9Mt in the same period in 2022. SNIC has blamed the decline in consumption on a poor economic situation, household debt and political uncertainty. Sales fell in all regions, except for the northeast, with a particular dip in the central-west area. Exports dropped by just under 50% to 58,000t. 12-month accumulated sales have been following a general downward trend since a peak of 64.8Mt in June 2021 compared to 62.5Mt in March 2023.

Paulo Camillo Penna, the president of SNIC, said “Projecting the government's expectation and the use of the input in the promised units until 2026, the cement industry in Brazil projects an increase of 8Mt of cement, if all constructions are made of masonry blocks, and of 12Mt, in the case of using concrete walls.”

Malaysia: YTL Cement has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Construction Research Institute of Malaysia (CREAM) to support the transition of the local construction industry to sustainable construction practices. Under the deal, YTL Cement will also contribute to the Construction Industry Development Board’s (CIDB) goals by rolling out human resource development programmes, research and development initiatives.

As part of the MOU, YTL and the CIDB will jointly design training programmes for young adults to be certified as concrete technicians and develop the training syllabus for accreditation programmes of qualified personnel in operations. It is hoped that this will assist in attracting, retaining and growing skilled workers in the construction industry. CREAM will work with YTL Cement’s team of experts to conduct research and development on lower embodied carbon alternatives in materials and construction methods. CIDB and YTL Cement will also work together to increase awareness on the embodied carbon of the construction sector by providing channels for discussions and knowledge transfer among industry practitioners and experts.

Ireland/UK: A six-month feasibility study conducted by Mannok at its Derrylin plant, in conjunction with Catagen, has found a number of ways that the cement producer can reduce its CO₂ emissions. Using Catagen’s HGEN renewable hydrogen generator with waste heat recovery could potentially decrease the cement plant’s annual CO₂ emissions by 7%. In addition the study found that using biohydrogen generation from waste biomass could generate larger volumes of hydrogen with less renewable energy required, compared to electrolytic hydrogen generation. Using Catagen’s BIOHGEN process in this way could minimise carbon intensity by a further 18%. A combined group of engineers from Mannok and Catagen worked on the project.

Kevin Lunney, operations director at Mannok, said “We are very excited to be working with the Catagen team, who have demonstrated a deep level of technical ability and competency during the feasibility work. I have no doubt that Mannok will derive significant value from the work already completed, with many new opportunities for collaboration now presenting that we would not have considered before. Achieving Net Zero is now the primary goal for our business and I expect Catagen will play a significant role in our achieving that goal, which we expect will have major benefits for the sector overall.”

In early April 2023 Mannok revealed that it had secured funding from the UK Government Green Energy Scheme to support its energy transformation programme. The first phase of the initiative, which the funding will support, is the generation of onsite green hydrogen to replace the use of diesel in over 70% of the company’s 150 heavy-goods truck fleet.

Belfast-based Catagen started as a testing company providing emissions data to the automotive sector. It has started working in other industrial sectors - such as cement, glass and steel in Europe and the US – as part of its ClimaHtech product range.

Mongolia: L Naranbaatar, the head of Khutul Cement and Lime, has responded to a strike at the company by outlining changes made since it was nationalised in 2022. Workers are protesting with demands to add wage incentives and to appoint managers from within the company, according to the UB Post newspaper. They have also alleged that the company is spending its budget illegally.

During a press conference Naranbaatar explained that the company produced 403,000t of cement in 2022, an increase from 2021. It reported a profit of US$3.3m in 2022, the first time it had made a profit in the last decade. However, the producer’s wage bill nearly doubled to just below US$6m in 2022. The company also spent US$2.25m on upgrades to the plant in 2022, the first such investment made in five years, compared to US$171,000 spent on maintenance in 2021.

Former economist L Naranbaatar was appointed as the head of Khutul Cement and Lime in March 2022. The company was transferred to the Development Bank of Mongolia when the heir of the previous owners refused to accept the inheritance.

Saudi Arabia: Riyadh Cement has ordered an airslide analyser from Switzerland-based SpectraFlow Analytics for its white cement production line. The contract also includes raw mix proportioning software. The product is an online analyser able to measure raw materials in airslides. The vendor says that by using its analyser, and a site-specific raw mix proportioning strategy, the variation in the local raw materials can be balanced out to increase consistency of the raw meal and kiln feed quality. Also the variable MgO, Na₂O, K₂O, Cl and SO₃ content is optimally monitored.

This order is SpectraFlow Analytics’ 49th order for the cement Industry and the first airslide analyser installation in Saudi Arabia. This order raises the installed base in Saudi Arabia to seven analysers (6 crossbelt, 1 airslide) and worldwide to 71 analysers (40 crossbelt and 31 airslide).

SpectraFlow Analytics sells online analysis products to the cement, bauxite, gold, platinum, copper, potash, phosphate, coal and other minerals industries. Its products are based on near Infrared (NIR) spectroscopy as opposed to using radioactive sources or neutron generators.