Displaying items by tag: Coal

Montenegro: State-owned energy supplier Elektroprivreda Crne Gore (EPCG) has proposed the gradual shutdown of its Pljevlja coal-fired plant and its replacement with a new cement plant. The company said that such a plant would eliminate Montenegro’s 750,000 – 800,000t/yr of cement imports.

The first stage of the Pljevlja power plant’s shutdown will only commence once a replacement power facility is online. Currently, the plant supplies 40% of the country’s energy. Its closure is part of Montenegro’s plan to accede to the EU as soon as 2025.

Taiwan: Zhang Anping, the chair of Taiwan Cement, has expressed doubts about the strength of the Chinese market in the short term. Whilst being interviewed by the state-owned Central News Agency at a community event, he said that increased raw material and energy prices looked set to remain high until at least mid-2022. The price of coal in China had more than tripled in 2021 before easing somewhat. He also raised the risks of growing global market uncertainty from an anticipated rise in interest rates in the US by the Federal Reserve and the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.

India: Finance company ICRA reported all-India cement sales in the first half of the 2022 financial year of 124Mt, up by 22% year-on-year. Mint News has reported that the total value of cement sales rose by 5% in the period compared to the first half of the 2021 financial year. Producers’ raw materials costs rose by 16%, while power, coal and petcoke costs rose by 26% and freight costs rose by 7%. Granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS) and gypsum prices also rose.

ICRA corporate ratings assistant vice president and sector head Anupama Reddy said "Despite some easing in the cost-side pressures, the input costs are likely to remain elevated in the near term, and are expected to exert pressure on operating margins, which are likely to decline by 200 to 230 basis points (BPS) in the 2022 financial year as a whole. While the capacity additions are expected to increase year-on-year in the 2022 financial year, the reliance on debt is likely to be lower owing to the healthy cash generation and strong liquidity of the cement companies. The debt coverage metrics are expected to remain strong in the 2022 financial year."

Thailand: Siam Cement Group (SCG) plans to spend US$2bn towards meeting its CO₂ reduction target by 2030. The industrial group and cement producer intends to reduce its emissions by 20% by the end of the decade, according to the Bangkok Post newspaper. Chief executive officer Roongrote Rangsiyopash, said that the investment will be made from 2022 to 2030 and that it follows the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), the Thai government's bio, circular and green (BCG) economic model and environmental, social and governance standards (ESG). After 2030 the group has a net zero goal for 2050.

In cement production the SCG wants to increase its rate of alternative fuels such as biomass and refuse-derived fuel. It also wants to invest in carbon capture utilisation and storage, use electric vehicles and use artificial intelligence systems in energy management. The group plans to reduce coal usage at its cement plants in Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Indonesia by 50% in 2022. It also plans to use more electricity generated by renewable energy for its factories.

India: Ratings agency Crisil has forecast 11 – 13% year-on-year growth of cement sales volumes in the 2021 financial year. The Press Trust of India has reported that the agency predicted that high demand and increased fuel costs would precipitate a rise in cement prices to record levels before April 2022.

In December 2021, petcoke prices rose by 80% year-on-year, while the price of imported coal had more than doubled. This has increased cement producers’ costs by 40%.

US: The Portland Cement Association (PCA) has announced the winners of its Energy and Environment Awards 2021. The awards recognise cement plants’ outstanding environmental and social efforts beyond what is required.

CalPortland’s Mojave plant in California won the Energy Efficiency award for an efficiency-increasing upgrade to its vertical roller mill, which included the introduction of a bottom hopper cone on each of its cyclones and a replacement of its mill fan housing. Argos USA’s Calera plant in Alabama won the Land Stewardship award for its conversion an 8.5ha lime kiln dust stockpile into grassland. The area now forms a vibrant ecosystem including wetland habitats. The producer also installed ponds with the additional purpose of stormwater management. Titan America’s Pennsuco plant in Florida won the Overall Environmental Excellence award for its conversion of the plant’s kiln to natural gas from coal use. The upgrade has also enabled the plant to begin to substitute alternative fuel (AF) in the kiln. The Pennsuco plant plans to produce 100% Portland limestone cement (PLC) by ‘as early as 2023.’

Other awards went to Roanoke Cement’s Troutville, Virginia, plant in the Environmental Performance category and to Cemex USA’s Victorville, California, plant in the Outreach category.

PCA President and CEO Michael Ireland said “The US’s cement manufacturers continue to focus on researching and developing new and innovative ways to reduce their environmental footprint. These accomplishments and industry commitment to carbon neutrality across the entire value chain demonstrate PCA members’ dedication to energy efficiency and a more sustainable future.”

India: UltraTech Cement has begun mining coal at its Bicharpur coal mine in Madhya Pradesh. The producer will use the coal in its cement production. UltraTech Cement acquired the 29Mt Bicharpur coal mine at auction in 2015.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg memorably summarised the outcome of the 2021 United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference (COP26) as “blah, blah, blah” but what did it mean for the cement and concrete industries?

Making sense of the diplomatic language the UN uses is a full time job due to its impenetrable jargon. This is partly why climate activists and others may have become jaded about the outcome of the world’s biggest climate change jamboree. The conference of the parties (COP) tried desperately to hang on to the 1.5°C warming aim set at the Paris event (COP21) in 2015. This is dependent though on countries sticking to their 2030 targets and becoming net-zero by 2050 or earlier. Unfortunately, both China and India, two of the world’s current top three CO₂ emitters, have announced net-zero dates of after 2050. Those two countries also drew fire in the western press for weakening the language used in the COP’s outcome document about the ‘phasing out’ or ‘phasing down’ of coal use. However, simply getting coal written on the final agreement has been viewed as a result. Other positive outcomes from the event included commitments for countries to review their 2030 targets in 2022, progress towards coordinating carbon trading markets around the world and work on adaptation finance from developed countries to developing ones.

The headline results from COP26 carry mixed implications for the building materials sector. The Paris agreement (COP21) has already achieved an effect in the run-up to COP26 by prompting the cement and concrete industries to release a roadmap from the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) in October 2021. Now it’s down to whether individual governments actually follow the targets and how they enforce it if they do. If they don’t, then the response from building material producers is likely to be mixed at best.

What may have a more tangible effect is the work on carbon markets at COP26. Countries were finally able to complete technical negotiations on the ‘Paris Agreement Rulebook,’ notably including work on Article 6, the section that helps to govern international carbon markets and allows for a global carbon offsetting mechanism. The European Union (EU) Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) has shown over the last year how a high carbon price may be able to stimulate companies to invest in mitigation measures such as upping alternative fuels substitution rates and developing carbon capture and storage/utilisation projects. Critics would argue that it may simply be offshoring cement production and closing local plants unnecessarily. Making a more global carbon trading scheme work amplifies both these gains and risks. Either way though, having an international framework to build upon is a major development. Finally, work on adaptation finance could have an effect for cement producers if the money actually makes it to its destination. The big example of this announced at COP26 was a US$8.5bn fund to help South Africa reduce its use of coal. It is mainly targeted at power generation but local cement producers, as a major secondary user of coal, are likely to be affected too.

Alongside the big announcements from COP26 lots of countries and companies, including ones in the cement sector, announced many sustainability plans. One of these included the launch of the Industrial Deep Decarbonisation Initiative (IDDI) during COP26 by the governments of the UK, India, Germany, Canada and the UAE. This scheme intends to create new markets for low carbon concrete and steel to help decarbonise heavy industry. To do this it will disclose the embodied carbon of major public construction projects by 2025, aim to reach net zero in major public construction steel and concrete by 2050, and work on an emissions reduction target for 2030 which will be announced in 2022. Other goals include setting up reporting standards, product standards, procurement guidelines and a free or low-cost certification service by 2023.

All of this suggests that the pressure remains on for the cement and concrete sector to decarbonise, provided that the governments stick to their targets and pledges, and back it up with action. If they do, then the industry will remind legislators of the necessity of essential infrastructure and then continue to ask for financial aid to support the development and uptake of low carbon cements, carbon capture and whatever else. Further adoption of carbon markets around the world and global rules on carbon leakage could help to accelerate this process, as could adaptation finance and global standards for low carbon concrete. The next year will be critical to see if the 1.5°C target survives and the next decade will be crucial to see if global gross cement-related CO₂ emissions will actually peak. If they do then it will be a case of ‘hip hip hurrah’ rather than ‘blah blah blah’.

US: LafargeHolcimUS and its subsidiary Geocycle have successfully completed a barge shipment of 2000t of reclaimed bottom ash and fly ash from a pond at CenterPoint Energy’s AB Brown coal-fired power plant at Evansville in Indiana. The delivery is the first under a new 6Mt multi-year coal ash recycling contract with the energy provider.

LafargeHolcim US will use the coal ash to replace clay and sand in cement production at its Ste. Genevieve cement plant in Missouri. The producer says that this will help to reduce the plant's consumption of raw materials. LafargeHolcim US and Geocycle have invested US$80m in infrastructure to extract, process, transport, store and recycle ash from the power plant. Geocycle has managed the on-going joint recycling initiative between LafargeHolcim and CenterPoint Energy since 2009.

LafargeHolcim US's chief executive officer Toufic Tabbara said “This milestone is a tangible example of how industry participants together can develop creative and efficient solutions that contribute to the circular economy. Together, LafargeHolcim, Geocycle and CenterPoint Energy will avoid landfilling for power plants and reduce the consumption of non-renewable raw materials. This is a clear win-win for people and our planet.”

Vietnam: Cement producers have raised their prices due to mounting coal costs. In October 2021 Bim Son Cement increased the cost of its products by 6%, according to the Viet Nam News newspaper. Other manufacturers have done likewise. Data from the Vietnam Association of Construction Contractors shows that local coal prices have grown by 7 – 10% recently. Coal represents around 40 – 45% of the production cost of cement. Prices of diesel and additives have also risen.