Displaying items by tag: Conference

UAE: The director of the World Cement Association (WCA), Ali Emir Adiguzel, told listeners at the association’s 6th Annual Conference in Dubai that the world has ‘enough cement for the next 25 years.’ Adiguzel addressed the issue of overcapacity by noting a ‘substantial’ drop in demand and pointing out that high input costs had led the sector to raise its prices, by as much as 15% in Europe. He also said that the primary challenge facing the cement industry was “meeting stringent emission targets and embracing carbon capture technologies.”

Adiguzel added "Despite our achievements, there is more work to be done in the years to come. To reach our net zero goal by 2050, we must significantly reduce carbon emissions. The technologies and mechanisms for this endeavour appear available, though currently minuscule and not economically fully feasible. Regulatory frameworks must evolve to minimise costs for end customers. Collaboration between the private and public sectors is imperative to facilitate carbon reduction."

Egypt: The Arab Union of Cement and Building Materials (AUCBM) has moved the location of its 26th Arab International Cement & Building Materials Conference and Exhibition (AICCE26) to Cairo in Egypt. The event will now take place on 15 - 17 January 2023. The event had previously been due to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It has been moved due to a ‘situation’ outside of the AUCBM’s control.

Nigeria: Holcim subsidiary Lafarge Africa hosted industry professional and policy makers at an event dedicated to advancing understanding of renewable energy on 8 July 2023. The Business and Financial Times newspaper has reported that the event included a panel session entitled 'The Business of Clean Energy: Opportunities for Industries.'

Lafarge Africa chair Prince Adebode Adefioye said "It is about stimulating every part of our economy, creating incentives for investors in clean energy and for people and businesses to embrace the use of clean energy products and technologies. It allows Nigeria not only to boost its energy supply and create new high-value jobs, but also to be at the forefront of reducing carbon emissions and saving our planet. Therefore, the whole idea is to bring people together to be able to stimulate ideas, even the banks and broader financial sector, to involve them in creating innovative tech and financial products that allow us to generate and use energy more effectively and productively.”

CEO Khaled El Dokani added “Fighting climate change and making the transition towards a greener economy requires a concerted effort by industries, individuals and the government. As a leader in innovation, Lafarge will continue to collaborate with stakeholders and we expect that the discussions by a range of industry experts and public officials here present today will provide a clear view of the business of clean energy and reveal the opportunities, insights and strategic agendas for leaders in the private and public sectors to accelerate our society’s access to clean energy.”

India: More than 75 representatives from academic institutions and businesses from across the world are attending the Innovandi Global Cement and Concrete Research Network (GCCRN) Spring Week taking place in New Delhi. The GCCRN has brought together 450 researchers and scientists from more than 40 universities and institutions, including the EPFL in Switzerland, South East University in China, University of Toronto in Canada, the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, the University of Cape Town, Imperial College London in the UK, as well as 35 cement and concrete manufacturers and their suppliers. The focus of the conference is to work towards reaching net-zero CO₂ concrete production, including sourcing and improving alternatives to clinker, work on calcined clays, concrete recycling – plus its carbonation and durability - as well as kiln electrification and carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS).

Claude Loréa, the Innovation and ESG Director at the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA), said “Global Innovation collaboration and research will help unlock our industry’s decarbonisation mission. Spring Week is the key date in the GCCA’s Innovandi calendar. It provides an opportunity for our partners to meet face-to-face, exchange ideas, run workshops, and measure progress on key research projects in line with our industry’s 2050 Net Zero Roadmap. Our industry and our key partners are stepping up to the challenge and it’s fantastic to see the progress on some of the 75 PhD candidates supported by the GCCRN.”

The event is also updating attendees about progress made by projects involved with the Innovandi Open Challenge. This initiative matches start-ups with GCCA member companies from around the world, to help scale up research and technical innovation. Two of the six start-ups selected in 2022 at the first ever Innovandi Open Challenge, which focused mainly on carbon capture and utilisation, have already gone to pilot stage. Applications for the second challenge, which focuses on low carbon concrete, close on 15 May 2023.

The GCCRN was set up by the GCCA, a lobbying group representing more than 80% of the world’s cement and concrete manufacturers outside of China. All GCCA member companies are committed to decarbonising the industry by the mid-21st Century, in line with the GCCA’s Concrete Future 2050 Net Zero Roadmap.

Türkiye: OYAK Cement has ordered a 5000t/day Pendulum Cooler from Germany-based IKN for its integrated plant at Ünye. The contract was signed at the 16th TurkÇimento Technical Seminar that was held in Antalya in late October 2022. No price for the order has been disclosed.

Saudi Arabia: China-based Sinoma has signed a contract with Yamama Cement for the construction of a new 10,000t/day clinker production line at its new plant site. The announcement of the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract at the Arab-International Cement Conference in Amman, Jordan, came shortly after the news that Sinoma had been contracted to dismantle, move and rebuild one of Yamama Cement’s existing cement production lines in a strategic move between the producer’s old and new plant sites.

Finland: Wärtsilä has announced that its upcoming Capital Markets Day event will take place at 1pm – 4.30pm, Eastern European Time (EET), on 18 November 2021. The supplier says that attendees will be able to follow proceedings via a webcast. President and CEO Håkan Agnevall together will host the event, during which members of the board of management will provide information on the company's business operations, strategy, and financial development.

Registration is open until 11 November 2021 and may be accessed here.

Turkey: Türkçimento, the Turkish Cement Manufacturers’ Association, says that it has held the sector’s first virtual cement conference and exhibition with the conclusion of Digitalcem on 21 April 2021. The event focused on the need to pioneer in the sector through innovative thinking. Topics included circular economy, sustainable and competitive products, green energy transformation, digital cement anddeveloping technologies. 22 companies hosted booths and over 360 participants took part in the two-day event.

Chair Tamer Saka said, “We keep close track of the European Union climate and environmental policies and the harmonisation process of Turkey’s cement sector, through the target of being a pioneer in our sector’s work performed within the framework of sustainability. In this scope, we started the Turkish Cement Sector Carbon Roadmap project at the end of 2020. We will present Turkey with the sector's roadmap by scrutinising the data on greenhouse gas emissions of almost all cement plants in Turkey.”

Mexico: Cemex has hosted Mujer Construrama, a conference and workshop series hosted by female leaders in construction. 320 participants attended the event. The group said that it reinforced its commitment to gender equality, as a signatory of the UN Women and UN Global Compact’s Women’s Empowerment Principles, promoting equality in the workplace, marketplace, and the community. It added that women’s empowerment benefits individuals and society, allowing for economic and social improvement and healthy competition. Construrama is the largest retail building materials distribution network in Mexico, with 2100 stores. Women lead approximately 30% of the stores.

Saudi Arabia: The 25th Arab International Cement Conference and Exhibition (AICCE) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, has been postponed from 1 – 3 December 2020 to a later date to be announced in due course. The cause of the postponement is the impacts of the coronavirus. Arab Union of Cement and Building Materials secretary general Ahmad Al-Rousan said, “For health and safety reasons for all delegates, exhibitors, and speakers, and in order to provide all participants with a reliable basis for planning, we see this rescheduling of the event as the most responsible conclusion.”