Displaying items by tag: Cemex

Czech Republic: Cemex Czech Republic resubmitted a revised environmental impact assessment (EIA) for its Prachovice quarry on 29 December 2023. Under the revised EIA, the quarry’s area will remain unchanged, but operations will expand to 1.7Mt/yr from 1.2Mt/yr. Authorities twice rejected previous EIAs for the mine.

Newton Media News has reported that the company says that its tests ‘clearly verified that the increased level of total organic carbon in air emissions was caused by one of the additives used in processing, and not by the content of organic substances in the mined raw material.’

Spain: Cemex España has announced its participation in the HYIELD consortium, which plans to build a waste-to-hydrogen demonstration plant at the producer’s Alcanar cement plant in Catalonia. The demonstration plant will process a total of 2000t of biogenic waste to produce 400t of green hydrogen for use as fuel, fertiliser and for other applications. The trial commands Euro10m in funding from the EU’s research and innovation funding programme Horizon Europe. Parent company Cemex believes that the technology being demonstrated at Alcanar has the potential to process 300Mt/yr of waste across Europe and produce 30Mt/yr of hydrogen.

Cemex’s Europe, Middle East and Africa regional president Sergio Menendez said “As part of its drive towards reaching net zero by 2050, Cemex is committed to partnering with like-minded organisations to explore the very latest innovations in more sustainable technology that can support the cement production process. We are proud to provide one of our cement plants in Spain as the location for the HYIELD trial and excited to see the outcomes from this research and development project.”

UK: Cemex’s corporate venture capital and open innovation unit Cemex Ventures has increased its stake in green hydrogen production technology developer HiiROC. Cemex Ventures described hydrogen as a ‘breakthrough approach’ to CO₂ reduction in the cement sector.

Head of Cemex Ventures Gonzalo Galindo said "This news comes at a critical moment, when COP28 has brought the world together to address and refocus the climate agenda and buckle down on the responsibility of governments and private corporations to deliver on their decarbonisation objectives ahead of 2030. With our increased investment in HiiROC, we are especially proud to be number one in the use of hydrogen in the cement sector and are committed to keep scouting new ways to deploy hydrogen at a grand scale at Cemex’s 60 cement and grinding plants.”

Mexico: The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and Mind the Bridge have named Cemex among construction industry sustainability leaders at the Top 100 Corporate Startup Stars 2023. The designation recognises work towards world-class open innovation and sustainability practices and successes in establishing collaborations between corporations and start-ups.

Gonzalo Galindo, head of Cemex’s venture capital arm Cemex Ventures, said “Fostering innovation, one of Cemex’s core values, is a fundamental aspect of our company culture and central to our commitment to our customers and communities in which we are present. We’re thrilled to be considered among some of the world’s most innovative companies in this year’s Corporate Startup Stars list, and will continue to disrupt the status quo and foster the construction industry revolution.”

Europe: Cemex says that sales of reduced-CO₂ cement from its Vertua range comprised 20% of its sales in Europe by volume in November 2023. The range includes Vertua Supreme cement, which offers 55% lower CO₂ emissions than ordinary Portland cement (OPC). Cemex attributed its success in developing Vertua Supreme cement to advances in product design and manufacturing technology, including the use of hydrogen in its cement kilns.

Mexico: Cemex has increased its borrowing under a credit agreement with Banorte by 15% to US$347m, and extended its maturity to 2028 from 2026 previously.

Cemex told investors "The credit agreement, denominated in Mexican pesos, will have an interest rate margin dependent on the leverage ratio slightly lower than that applicable prior to the refinancing, and financial obligations consistent with an investment grade capital structure."

Mexico: Cemex has reached 1000 reduced-CO₂ trucks in operation across its global cement business. This includes trucks fuelled by renewable diesel and natural gas. These efforts have reduced its global transport CO₂ emissions by 5% since 2020, in line with the group’s commitment to a 30% reduction by 2030.

Chief executive officer Fernando González said “Our net-zero transition is supported by proven and readily-available lower-carbon technologies that guarantee that we meet our short and medium-term decarbonisation commitments. At the same time, we remain at the forefront of innovation and emerging transportation technologies so we can achieve our ultimate goal of becoming a net-zero CO₂ company by 2050.”

Spain: Cemex’s venture capital unit Cemex Ventures announced the launch of its second LeapLab accelerator programme for high-potential start-ups on 30 November 2023. The programme introduces a cohort of five start-ups from around the globe, which will carry out pilot-scale tests of their technologies across 100 Cemex sites in 12 different countries. Throughout the process, experts from Cemex and partner organisations will support the work of the start-ups as mentors, pilot leaders, speakers and assistants, as well as providing business advice and support in network building. The selected start-ups are AI technology developers Introid, Mixteresting and Verusen, hybrid vehicle fuel optimisation company Movener and water monitoring specialist Waterplan.

Cemex’s executive vice president of digital and organisation development Luis Hernández said “Start-up acceleration is a key pillar of Cemex’s open innovation strategy, since the time to scale the technologies that enable us to build a better future is now. By combining the disruptive solutions and agility of start-ups with Cemex’s extensive industry networks and resources, start-up acceleration is a vehicle for tangible innovation generation.”

Jamaica: Caribbean Cement has appointed Jorge Alejandro Martinez Mora as its managing director with effect from 1 December 2023. He succeeds Yago Castro Izaguirre in the post. Castro Izaguirre has been the head of Caribbean Cement since late 2020. He will take up another role in Cemex Group.

Martinez Mora is a civil engineer with knowledge and experience in commercial, corporate and operational fields. He has worked for Cemex and its subsidiaries since 2004 and, most recently, held the position of Builders Segment Regional Director for the Cemex Group's Central Region in Mexico, based in Mexico City.

Europe: Mexico-based Cemex says that it will soon have obtained Type III environmental product declaration (EPD) certificates for the cement products it produces across its European network of cement plants. EPDs have been published for selected cements since 2021. Cemex has confirmed the publication of EPDs for all cement types in Poland and the publication of EPDs for its products produced in Croatia and Spain by the end of 2023. Phase Two of the publication process will see EPDs for cements produced in the UK, Germany and Czech Republic in early 2024, which will complete the full roll out in Europe.

Sergio Menéndez, President of Cemex Europe, Middle East, Africa & Asia, said, "EPD certificates enable our customers to make an informed choice about which materials offer the lowest carbon footprint and reduce the environmental impact of their construction projects. We have therefore made securing these objective and reliable documents, which demonstrate that our products meet the requirements of more sustainable construction, a priority across our whole European operation. I am very pleased with the progress made so far and look forward to celebrating the completion of this process."