September 2024
Heidelberg Materials and Canadian government sign deal on Edmonton cement plant carbon capture project 06 April 2023
Canada: Heidelberg Materials and the Canadian government have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaborate on the installation of a carbon capture system at the company’s Edmonton cement plant in Alberta. The project is scheduled for completion in 2026, at a total cost of US$1.01bn. When operational, the system will capture 100% of the Edmonton cement plant’s CO2 emissions - 1Mt/yr – for transportation and storage in nearby Wabamun. Canada Newswire has reported that construction of the system will create 2000 jobs.
The government said that it would be a ‘significant partner’ for the project. The size of funding will depend on other provisions under its Investment Tax Credit for Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage scheme, which is currently being finalised.
Holcim publishes Climate Report 2023 06 April 2023
Switzerland: Holcim has published its Climate Report 2023, detailing the company’s progress towards meeting its sustainability commitments up to the end of 2022. The cement producer recorded net specific CO2 emissions per tonne of product of 562kg/t, down by 1.7% year-on-year from 572kg/t in 2021. In line with its 1.5°C climate change-aligned targets, Holcim is committed to 420kg/t specific CO2 emissions by 2030 and net zero by 2050.
Overall, the group’s Scope 1 CO2 emissions from cement production fell by 2.5% to 77Mt from 79Mt, while its Scope 2 emissions remained at 5Mt and its Scope 3 emissions fell by 11% to 47Mt from 53Mt. Its cement had an average clinker factor of 73%, down from 73.6% in 2021. Holcim processed 6.8Mt of construction and demolition waste, up by 3% from 6.6Mt. Meanwhile, its thermal substitution rate of alternative fuel (AF) rose to 28% from 26%.
CEO Jan Jenisch and chief sustainability officer Magali Anderson said “With our successful transformation, we reduced our CO2 per net sales by 21% in 2022, and commit to reducing it by over 10% in 2023. Accelerating the shift to net-zero cities requires deep partnerships across our value chain. In 2022 we engaged with public authorities to evolve building standards, with cities to scale up green demand in their projects, and with architects and engineers to specify sustainable solutions in their designs. We did this as a key partner for our customers, bringing solutions that help them achieve their sustainability goals.”
Titan Cement Group publishes 2022 Integrated Report 06 April 2023
Greece: Titan Cement Group published its 2022 Integrated Report on 6 April 2023. The report outlines the cement producer’s financial and environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance. For the full year, the group recorded a net profit of Euro110m, up by 19.3% year-on-year. It made ‘record’ capital expenditure investments of Euro242m, and increased its net debt by 12% to Euro797m.
The group says that it is ‘on track’ to meet its ESG targets for 2025 and beyond. It reduced its specific CO2 emissions by 5% decade-on-decade in 2022. Throughout the year, Titan Cement Group continued its investments in research, development and innovation activities across all markets, with an increased focus on carbon capture, storage and utilisation. It also rolled out its digital transformation to further plants around the globe.
Holcim acquires Sivyer Logistics 06 April 2023
UK: Holcim has acquired leading London construction and demolition waste (CDW) recycling company Sivyer Logistics. Sivyer Logistics produced 500,000t of recycled aggregates and manufactured soils from 1Mt of CDW across its six sites in 2022. Holcim says that the acquisition represents a step towards realising its target of 10Mt/yr of construction and demolition waste in Holcim products by 2025.
The group’s Europe regional head Miljan Gutovic said “Sivyer Logistics is an excellent addition to help us drive circular construction.” He added “I look forward to welcoming all employees of Sivyer Logistics and investing in our next era of growth together.”
Bangladesh: Cement producers and traders exported US$9.68m-worth of cement during the first nine months of the 2023 financial year. This corresponds to a year-on-year rise of 49% from US$6.51m during the first nine months of the 2022 financial year. The Bangladesh Export Promotion Bureau is targeting full-year growth of 15% year-on-year to US$11m from US$9.57m. Maritime Gateway News has reported that MI Cement Factory contributed 50% of Bangladesh’s cement exports so far in the 2023 financial year.
Bangladesh’s main trade partners for its cement exports for India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
Update on Hungary, April 2023 05 April 2023
Heidelberg Materials’ reaction to changes in the law in Hungary received attention this week in the German press. The government introduced its Act on Hungarian Architecture in March 2023 that will enable it to set production levels and prices upon foreign-owned cement producers when the new legislation takes force in July 2023. An unnamed executive at the Germany-based Heidelberg Materials told Der Spiegel that, "These regulations represent a complete violation of all rules of the European single market.” They added that the Hungarian government appeared to be trying to force the producer to sell up. The report further alleges that the owners of Duna-Dráva Cement, Heidelberg Materials and Schwenk Zement, also received an offer to buy them out in mid-2022 from an individual with links to Prime Minister Victor Orbán.
This latest move to corral the cement sector in Hungary follows a number of recent changes in legislation. Notably, Decree 404 was introduced in July 2021. This set a 90% tax on the ‘excess’ profits of cement, plaster, chalk, gravel, sand, clay, lime and gypsum producers with the stated intention of wanting to prevent rising prices. The government set a threshold price for cement of Euro56/t at the time. At the same time it also blocked exports of cement and other raw materials of declared strategic importance unless affected companies had registered with the Ministry of the Interior. The European Commission (EC) responded to a parliamentary question on the matter in November 2021 saying that it had sent a formal letter to Hungary informing it that it was breaching some parts of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (EU) on the free movement of goods. Although it noted that the new law also affected exports outside the EU, which was beyond the EC's remit. It added that the so-called ‘mining royalties’ did not seem to breach EU tax law.
Concerns over these issues between Hungary and Germany also surfaced in October 2022 when Orbán met with the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. At this time Thomas Spannagl, the head of Schwenk Zement, said that the windfall profit tax in Hungary had a "serious negative" impact on business and that importers were not affected in the same way.
Heidelberg Materials’ subsidiary Duna-Dráva Cement is the largest cement producer by production capacity in Hungary with two integrated plants at Beremend and Vác. Together they have a production capacity of 2.8Mt/yr, according to the Global Cement Directory 2023, or about 70% of the country’s active national capacity. Heidelberg Materials reported that its result from equity accounted investments fell by 27% year-on-year to Euro262m in 2022 from Euro356m in 2023 due to a decline in earnings particularly in China and Hungary. This compares to a 4% drop to Euro3.74bn in its result from current operations before depreciation and amortisation across the whole business. Despite this it also noted that Hungary’s overall economic output had grown by 5% in 2022.
Just before the new laws affecting cement companies starting arriving in mid-July 2021, the Hungarian Competition Authority started an investigation into a “drastic” increase in raw material prices. This followed a warning a year earlier in 2020 that it had started competition supervision proceedings against the three main market participants: Duna-Dráva Cement, Lafarge Cement and CRH. All three are foreign-owned companies.
Lafarge Cement Hungary operates the Kiralyegyháza plant and it is due to change its name to Holcim in May 2023. Its predecessor companies, Holcim and Lafarge, also used to run plants at Hejocsaba and Lábatlan before the merger in 2015. However, the Hejocsaba plant ran into legal problems between Holcim and another investor, shut in 2011 and was later forcibly taken over by the other party in 2014. Today the plant operates as Hejőcsabai Cement- és Mészipari (HCM) but cement production is reportedly yet to restart nearly a decade later and Holcim says that legal proceedings are still ongoing. The Lábatlan plant, meanwhile, closed for good in the early 2010s. CRH took over some of Holcim’s other operations in Hungary in 2015 at the same time as the formation of LafargeHolcim but does not run any cement plants in the country at present. It does own cement plants in nearby countries that are able to supply the Hungarian market as well as running 19 concrete units. It describes itself as the “number two player” in the local market. It wasn’t specific on Hungary in its financial results for 2022 but it did describe sales in its Europe East region as being ahead of 2021, “due to a strong focus on commercial actions to offset significant cost inflation.”
Construction costs in Hungary do appear to have grown faster than other European countries in the second half of 2021 as the country came out of the coronavirus pandemic. However, the country's anti-immigrant labour stance may have also contributed to the situation, in addition to the high-energy prices and supply chain bottlenecks experienced elsewhere. In addition, cement companies are also capable of monopolistic behaviour. For example, Duna-Dráva Cement’s proposed acquisition of Cemex Croatia was blocked by the EC back in 2017 on competition grounds. However, given how international the cement industry has become, it is surprising to see this kind of treatment from a government within the European Union.
Thailand: Siam City Cement has appointed Ramjan Sachdeva as its group chief financial officer. He succeeds Mark Anatol Schmidt in the role.
Prior to this he was the Group Head Internal Audit and Compliance for Siam City Cement in Thailand and the Group Commercial Director for mining company Vedanta in India. Earlier in his career he spent eight years working for Holcim in India in procurement and audit roles, as well as for Nestlé.
Sachdeva holds a degree in mechanical engineering from the Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology in India and a master of business administration qualification from the University of Leicester in the UK.
Germany: Flender has appointed Christian Terlinde as its group chief financial officer (CFO), with effect from 1 July 2023. He will succeed group chief executive officer Andreas Evertz in the post, who has been working in the role on an interim basis.
Terlinde is currently the CFO at Germany-based commercial vehicle supplier Jost Werke. Prior to this, he held positions included CFO at Benteler Automotive and finance and controlling roles at Mahle Group and EON.
Egypt: Reliance Heavy Industries (RHI) has appointed Sameh Saleh as its chief executive officer. He holds over 30 years of experience in the cement sector in both plant operation and engineering. Notably he worked for Arabian Cement for 10 years as a plant manager and then its chief operations officer. He later managed the company’s alternative fuels subsidiary Egypt Green. Other notable placements include those with Tabuk Cement, RHI and the Arab Swiss Engineering Company (ASEC).
Sameh Saleh trained in mechanical engineering at Cairo University. He later gained a qualification in project management and an executive master of business administration degree from the American University in Cairo.
Peter Steinkellner appointed as Head of Technical Marketing Cement & Lime at RHI Magnesita 05 April 2023
Austria: RHI Magnesita has appointed Peter Steinkellner as Head of Technical Marketing Cement & Lime for Europe, CIS & Türkiye. He has held a number of marketing roles for the refractory producer since 2015. Prior to this he worked Lafarge for seven years as a quality engineer.