Displaying items by tag: Australia

Australia: The Australian government’s ‘unwillingness’ to impose a carbon levy on imported cement, lime and clinker is threatening decarbonisation efforts and could cost up to 1400 jobs, according to the Financial Review.

The Cement Industry Federation, which represents local producers Adbri, Boral and Cement Australia, has said that the absence of a carbon levy on imports from countries with less robust climate commitments paved the way for the offshoring of local manufacturing, a process known as ‘carbon leakage’.

It said “Not addressing the issue of carbon leakage in a timely manner will be detrimental to Australian cement and lime manufacturing and could lead to the unnecessary loss of key Australian cement and lime facilities."

Imports currently account for over 40% of domestic clinker consumption and originate largely from southeast Asia. In 2023, an energy expert was appointed by the government to assess the feasibility of an Australian carbon border adjustment mechanism, with a final recommendation expected to be delivered in 2024. However, only an interim report was released in November 2024, with the final advice now reportedly due after the election in May 2025.

Australia/Europe: The European Commission (EC) has approved a deal that will see Heidelberg Materials and Holcim acquire joint control of Australian business BGC Cementitious via their joint venture Cement Australia. BGC Cementitious, the cementitious division of the Buckeridge Group of Companies, is active in the cement, concrete, quarrying, asphalt and transportation sectors. The EC concluded that the planned deal would not hurt competition given the limited impact on the European Economic Area. The transaction includes, among others, the Kwinana Cement plant in Western Australia. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

Thailand: Siam Cement Group (SCG) has forecast a 5% year-on-year rise in its full-year revenues due to economic revival and the government’s current stimulus package. President and CEO Thammasak Sethaudom said that increased customer purchasing power in Vietnam will raise SCG’s local cement and building material sales

SCG’s additional focuses will be on entering the Australia and North America markets and developing its high value-added products segment.

Japan/Australia: Mitsubishi UBE Cement Corporation (MUCC) has invested US$5m in cleantech firm MCi Carbon, becoming the fourth major Japanese investor alongside ITOCHU Corporation, Mizuho Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank.

The partnership includes a collaboration agreement focusing on mineral carbonation technology and a three-way memorandum of understanding with ITOCHU Corporation.

MUCC will utilise MCi's technology to decarbonise cement production in Japan through CO₂ emissions abatement and development of low-carbon materials.

The investment supports the commissioning of MCi's 'Myrtle' mineral carbonation demonstration plant in Australia.

Typical! We published a cement sector news review for 2024 in the December 2024 issue of Global Cement Magazine and a load of big important events happened afterwards. So, here is a roundup of some of the major stories that have taken place in the last two months of the year.

The TL:DR (too long; didn't read) version of ‘Global Cement News in 2024’ was: focus on the US market by the multinationals; cement joining the emissions trading scheme in China as the world’s largest market stagnates; continued rivalry between UltraTech Cement and Adani Group in India as that sector grows; markets in the Middle East and North Africa adjusting to higher exports; the drawn out divestment of InterCement in Brazil; lots of new plants in Sub-Saharan Africa reflecting demographic trends; and an emphasis on construction and demolition materials in Europe but one on aggregates in North America.

However, from November 2024 onwards… Donald Trump was re-elected as President in the US, Quikrete put in an US$11.5bn deal to buy Summit Materials, the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Azerbaijan ended in acrimony, Gautam Adani was accused of fraud by a US court and Huaxin Cement said it was buying Holcim’s majority stake in Lafarge Africa for US$1bn. These have all been covered in previous editions of Global Cement Weekly. Check them out for more information. One can tell it’s been a busy tail-end to the year though when a US$600m agreement by Heidelberg Materials North America to buy Giant Cement Holding did not make the top five, admittedly selective, noteworthy news stories of the last two months of 2024. These stories also, roughly, followed the trends highlighted in the ‘Global Cement News in 2024’ article.

To reflect on the Adani story a few weeks later, nothing much seems to have occurred. Yet. The share price of various Adani Group companies fell when the US authorities made the announcement in late November 2024 but they have mostly regained much of their value since then. The consensus by Reuters, this week, was that the US prosecutors have a strong case backed up by documentation but extradition seems unlikely. Adani himself has made public appearances in India since the allegations surfaced. One minor consequence has been that Gautam Adani exited the US$100bn Bloomberg Billionaires Index in 2024. This is likely to have been caused, in part at least, by the allegations from Hindenburg Research in 2023 and the current legal problems from the US bringing down share prices. On the cement side of Adani Group it appears to have been business as usual so far. A large-scale investment in Rajasthan was announced in December 2024 and, this week, plans to merge subsidiaries Sanghi Industries and Penna Cement with Ambuja Cements were disclosed.

Another general trend that we haven’t covered much online have been changes in the Australian market. Last week, Cement Australia, a joint venture between Heidelberg Materials Australia and Holcim Australia, said it was acquiring the cementitious division of the Buckeridge Group of Companies (BGC) for US$800m. This follows CRH’s purchase of a majority stake in AdBri that was approved by the latter’s shareholders over the summer. Around the same time, Seven Group Holdings completed its acquisition of the remaining 28% stake in Boral that it did not already own. For more on the situation in Australia and New Zealand read the article in the January 2025 issue of Global Cement Magazine.

That’s it for 2024. Unless another massive news story in the cement sector gets announced in the next week-and-a-half.

Global Cement Weekly will return on Wednesday 8 January 2025

Australia: Maribyrnong council has unanimously rejected a proposal to expand Steel Cement's Yarraville plant. The US$113m expansion proposal involved the construction of new sheds, a workshop and two grinding mills for 24-hour clinker grinding, according to Star Weekly. The plan faced strong local opposition, with 109 objections citing environmental and amenity concerns. Lisel Thomas from the Maribyrnong Truck Action Group stated that pollution was already a big problem in the area, and would worsen following the expansion, while Steel Cement argued the expansion would offer environmental benefits, since its proximity to the Port of Melbourne would remove ‘1500 truck movements for every ship that arrives.’

Steel Cement was reportedly ‘disappointed but not surprised’ by the council’s decision.

Australia: Cement Australia, a joint venture between Heidelberg Materials Australia and Holcim Australia, will acquire the cementitious division of the Buckeridge Group of Companies (BGC) in Perth for US$800m, according to The Australian. The acquisition includes a cement grinding unit with ‘significant’ capacities, along with operations in cement, concrete, quarry, asphalt, transport and a materials technology centre. Cement Australia reportedly ‘fended off competition’ from Boral, Adbri and Mass Group in the process. BGC has stated that it retains a ‘significant’ business with about 1000 employees across its other sectors. The acquisition remains subject to regulatory approval, but is expected to close in the second half of 2025.

Australia: Boral has launched upgraded ‘carbon-reducing’ technology at its Berrima Cement Works in the Southern Highlands region of New South Wales (NSW). The upgraded facility features a new chlorine bypass, which reduces the build-up of chlorides and other alternative fuel byproducts. This will reportedly enable alternative fuel usage to reach 60% over the next three years at the site, doubling its current substitution rate of 30%.

Australia: Suvo Strategic Minerals has been offered an opportunity to field test its lower carbon cement made from kaolin in the Victorian government's level crossing removal project (LXRP). This trial aims to evaluate Suvo’s cement formulation, which the company hopes can reduce up to 70% of Portland cement typically used in construction.

The company utilises ‘hydrous’ kaolin from its Pittong operation, located 40km west of Ballarat, Victoria, in producing this cement. The LXRP trial will allow Suvo to demonstrate the feasibility of using their product in real-world infrastructure projects, with help from the government to navigate the commercial and technical approval processes to introduce its cement product to the market.

Vietnam: Thailand-based Siam Cement Group (SCG) says it is expanding the production of its SCG Low Carbon cement product in southern Vietnam. It plans to export up to 8000t/day of the product to the US, Canada, and Australia, as well as supplying local green-procurement projects, according to the Vietnam Business Forum. The company says its low-carbon cement reduces CO₂ emissions by up to 20%, compared to regular products, through the use of alternative fuels, renewable energy sources and installing waste heat recovery (WHR) units at its plants. SCG formally launched SCG Low Carbon Super Cement in the country in July 2024.