September 2024
Vietnamese 11-month cement production declines by 4.5% in 2023 29 November 2023
Vietnam: Cement plants produced 110Mt of cement during the 11-month period up to the end of November 2023, Việt Nam News has reported. The government’s General Statistics Office recorded a 4.5% year-on-year drop in national production volumes of cement in the year to date.
Australia/UAE: Industrial CO2 emissions reduction research body Heavy Industry Low-carbon Transition Cooperative Research Centre (HILT CRC) has received an invitation to attend COP28. HILT CRC said that the invitation reflects the importance of collaborative research for the decarbonisation of Australia’s heavy industries, including cement.
Chief executive officer Jenny Selway said “Decarbonising heavy industries is a core aspect of cutting down on global emissions to limit global warming to well below 2°C. The low-carbon technology transition in heavy industry is vital for our future: it will ensure we build sustainable industries and create new opportunities for Australia’s economy.”
Calderys launches new brand platform 29 November 2023
France: Refractories supplier Calderys has announced the launch of its new brand platform following its integration of HWI (formerly HarbisonWalker International) earlier in 2023. The platform is comprised of four values, reflecting the personality of Calderys’ company culture, namely accountability, authenticity, multiculturalism and tenacity.
Chief people officer Melissa Bihary and global vice president communications Aurélie de Chassey-Hayot said “These new values and the overall platform have been developed through an employee-led exercise. Therefore, they truly define the essence of who we are and how we do business. They guide our actions and behaviors and help us make the best decisions for the benefit of our customers.”
Türkiye: Taiwan-based Taiwan Cement Corporation (TCC) has signed a preliminary memorandum of understanding (MoU) with OYAK Çimento. Under the MOU, the parties will enter into negotiations over the transfer of a further 20% stake in OYAK Denizli Çimento to TCC. This will raise TCC’s stake in the company to 60%. Reuters has reported the total enterprise value of OYAK Denizli Çimento as US$1.42bn.
Europe: Germany-based Heidelberg Materials has announced the launch of EvoZero carbon captured net zero cement. The company produces EvoZero cement at its Brevik cement plant in Norway. It says that this is the first cement to achieve net zero CO2 emissions through the use of carbon capture and storage (CCUS), without relying on other methods of compensation in its carbon accounting.
Heidelberg Materials chair Dominik von Achten said “The launch of our unique EvoZero products is a paradigm shift in the decarbonisation of our sector. Carbon capture and storage is a breakthrough technology for the building materials industry and we are frontrunners in deploying it at scale. With EvoZero, we are offering the industry’s most innovative, globally unique product for our customers, enabling them to drive cutting-edge, environmentally friendly construction projects. I am very proud of the dedication and passion of everyone involved in our pioneering project in Brevik.”
Taiwan: Asia Cement Corporation tested its waste wind turbine blade processing capacities using 12t of blades earlier in November 2023. The cement producer had previously processed 9t of waste turbine blades for use in its plants up to the end of October 2023. Asia Cement Corporation says that the waste consists of fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP), which is 60% silicon dioxide, calcium oxide and aluminium oxide and 40% polyester. The polyester can replace fossil fuels as alternative fuel (AF) for cement plants, while the other chemical compounds can serve as supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs).
Vietnam raises 10-month exports to Australia 28 November 2023
Vietnam/Australia: Vietnam exported 412,000t of cement to Australia during the first 10 months of 2023. Việt Nam News has reported that this is more than double the 10-month 2022 figure of 157,000t. The total value of the shipments also more than doubled year-on-year, to US$20.5m from US$8.37m.
Flender wins German Sustainability Award 2024 28 November 2023
Germany: Flender claimed the German Sustainability Award 2024 for mechanical engineering at a ceremony in Düsseldorf on 23 November 2023. The award recognises the outstanding contribution of the supplier’s drives for wind energy and industrial applications, including cement, to the German energy transition. Germany is committed to 80% renewable energy use nationally by 2030, and 100% by 2035.
CEO Andreas Evertz said "My sincerest thanks go to the Flender team and our partners. This award is a very special milestone for us. It is a testament to the passion and commitment of our global team in tackling these critical challenges. Furthermore, it serves as additional inspiration and motivation towards our ambitious objectives. Ultimately, the awards themselves are secondary to the meaningful achievements we attain together. The industry has a duty to take the lead in addressing the climate, environmental and social challenges."
Germany and Chile to launch club to help countries reduce emissions from cement production 27 November 2023
Chile/Germany: The governments of Chile and Germany are reportedly preparing to launch a so-called ‘climate club’ to help developing nations invest in technologies to decarbonise sectors such as cement and steel production. The partners will set up a platform to connect countries with funding and technical support from governments and the private sector, according to a draft statement seen by Reuters. The statement is expected to be published at the United Nations’ Conference of the Parties (COP) 28 event on 1 December 2023 set to take place in Dubai.
"On hard-to-abate sectors, starting with steel and cement, we will advance conducive policy frameworks for accelerating decarbonisation," the statement said. It added that this will include attempting to coordinate international green industry standards, such as counting the emissions in industrial products.
A website for the club lists 33 members including the US, Argentina, Australia, Canada, Colombia, Egypt, the European Union (EU), Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Mozambique, Morocco, Ukraine and the UK. It has been viewed, in part, as an attempt to reconcile countries annoyed by the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which started in October 2023. However, neither China nor India appears to have joined the ‘climate club’ so far.
Amouda Cement preparing to launch oil well cement production line 27 November 2023
Algeria: Amouda Cement is preparing to launch an oil well cement production line at its plant at El Beïda in Laghouat province. L'Expression newspaper reports that the product will be targeted at oil and gas companies in the southern region of the country, particularly those near to the RN 1 highway.