Displaying items by tag: GCW624
Holcim launches Innovation Hub
06 September 2023Switzerland/France: The Swiss multinational building materials producer Holcim has launched a global Innovation Hub to accelerate sustainable building at its Global Research & Development Center in Lyon, France. The Hub showcases Holcim's innovative and sustainable building solutions to scale up low-carbon, circular and energy-efficient buildings. Spread across three floors, it offers working spaces to host start-ups and think tanks to accelerate innovation together. It will also serve as a platform to explore the future of sustainable cities and their construction via interactive exhibits and events.
The showroom showcases how Holcim is decarbonising building across its lifecycle, featuring low-carbon materials like ECOPact concrete and ECOPlanet cement products, roofing and insulation systems that drive energy efficiency - from Elevate boards to Airium, and circular construction solutions, such as its proprietary ECOCycle circular technology platform to recycle construction demolition materials into new building solutions.
Nollaig Forrest, Holcim’s Chief Sustainability Officer, said, "It's a very exciting time for the building sector, with so much momentum in innovation to advance sustainable solutions. At Holcim we want to partner with the best and brightest innovators to accelerate the transition to low carbon, circular and energy-efficient buildings. Our Innovation Hub, within our Global Research & Development Center, is designed to host partners from start-ups to architects to explore new solutions together."
Hoffmann Green Cement Technologies confirms deal with Shurfah Group
05 September 2023Saudi Arabia: Hoffmann Green Cement Technologies (HGCT) has signed a deal with Shurfah Group to build several Hoffman plants under a 22-year exclusive licensing agreement. A first ‘clinker-free’ cement plant will be built in 2024. It will be a copy of HGCT’s H2 plant in France, which uses a combination of activated clay, ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) and gypsum to manufacture its products.
The engineering and production process will be carried out by Germany-based IBAU Hamburg. HGCT signed an exclusive partnership agreement with IBAU Hamburg in June 2022 to support the construction of Hoffmann units worldwide. In return for the industrial and technological transfer and this exclusivity, Hoffmann Green will receive an entry fee and fixed and variable annual royalties from Shurfah Group based on sales generated by the marketing of Hoffmann cements in Saudi Arabia.
Julien Blanchard and David Hoffman, the co-founders of HGCT, said "Just few weeks after signing a pre-agreement, we have given concrete expression to our commitment by signing this licensing contract with Shurfah, a major player in the Saudi Arabian construction industry. After Switzerland and the UK, we are continuing our international deployment with the aim of supporting, through this new contract, the kingdom's ambitious ‘Vision 2030’ project and participating in the decarbonisation of their construction industry through the construction of several of our units on their territory and the marketing of our 0% cement clinker."
Shurfah Group is a real estate investment conglomerate with interests in other sectors including petrochemicals, food and beverages.
Six dormant cement plants reportedly received Euro88m in European Union emissions allowances
05 September 2023Europe: Six cement plants were reportedly issued around Euro88m in free European Union emissions allowances (EUA) from 2019 to 2022 despite the clinker kilns at the units being idle or running at low levels. Research by the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS) has revealed that plants operated by Buzzi, Cementos Portland Valderrivas (CPV), Cemex, Holcim and Votorantim Cimentos all benefited from the scheme despite only emitting 36,370t of CO2. The companies would then have been able to use the subsidy to cover emissions costs at other plants or sell the permits. OPIS identified five plants in Spain and one in Germany.
Shree Cement inaugurates Purulia grinding plant in West Bengal
05 September 2023India: Shree Cement has held a ceremony inaugurated its new its new Purulia grinding plant in Digha, West Bengal. Commercial production at the 3Mt/yr unit started in late July 2023. It had an investment of US$66m. Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal, attended the event.
India: A worker had been killed and two others seriously injured at a fire that broke out at Dalmia Cement’s Banjari cement plant on 1 September 2023. The staff were reportedly cleaning the kiln at the unit in Bihar when the incident took place, according to the Hindustan Times newspaper. The name of the dead worker has been confirmed as Sanjiv Kumar Singh.
SaltX and SMA Mineral agree plant for electrified lime plants
05 September 2023Sweden: SaltX Technology and SMA Mineral have agreed a joint roadmap until 2028 to work on developing and building electrified lime plants. The agreement means that mineral producer SMA Mineral plans to build several units where SaltX's electric arc calciner (EAC) technology will be installed. The companies have worked together since mid-2022.
Carl-Johan Linér, the chief executive officer at SaltX, said "We have now signed a long-term cooperation agreement in which the respective parties' roles and responsibilities are regulated, which is an important step for both parties."
SaltX Technology is intended to allow SMA Mineral to halve its CO2 emissions by 2027. The agreement allows SMA Mineral to use the EAC technology to produce quicklime in the Nordic region. The forecast is that SaltX will receive orders for 7 - 9 EAC units from SMA Mineral during the contract period. SaltX intends to market and sell the EAC technology to lime manufacturers outside the Nordic region and other stakeholders, such as cement manufacturers, worldwide. SaltX and SMA Mineral are accelerating work on SMA Mineral’s first electric lime plant at Mo i Rana.
Cemex considering selling business in the Dominican Republic
04 September 2023Dominican Republic: Cemex is considering selling its subsidiary Cemex Dominicana according to Bloomberg. The Mexico-based group is reportedly working with JPMorgan Chase & Co on a potential divestment worth over US$1bn. Proceedings are at an early stage, with Cemex starting to talk to interested parties to assess potential interest.
Cemex has been operating in the Dominican Republic since 1995 when it acquired Cementos Nacionales. It runs the integrated 2.4Mt/yr San Pedro de Macorís cement plant. It also has ten concrete plants, three sea terminals, two aggregate quarries and a gypsum mine. It employs 1500 people directly. Cemex sold its subsidiaries in Costa Rica and El Salvador to Cementos Progreso for US$329m in 2022.
Yguazú Cementos warns of high import levels in Paraguay
04 September 2023Paraguay: Andrés Wardle, the head of Yguazú Cementos, has warned that the government does not need to allow the current levels of cement imports. He said that the Ministry of Industry and Commerce was issuing “unnecessary” licences for imports because local demand levels were too low, according to the ABC Color newspaper. He added that local cement producers were able to meet domestic demand for cement as they had idle production capacity. The government has authorised import licences for 80,000t of cement and licences for another 60,000t have been authorised but are pending entry.
Lafarge Egypt confirms aim to reduce CO2 emissions by 2030
04 September 2023Egypt: Lafarge Egypt has confirmed that it is aiming to reduce its CO2 emissions in excess of 20% by 2030. Its key steps to achieve this include increasing its use of alternative fuels and lowering its clinker factor, according to the Daily News Egypt newspaper. Chief executive officer Jimmy Khan added that the company is also working on developing digital methods to reduce emissions by improving transport logistics. The cement producer launched its Shatbna Masonry Cement product in 2022, part of parent company Holcim’s ECOPlanet range.
Holcim has set a worldwide target to reduce its gross Scope 1 CO2 emissions from cement production of 22% by 2030 from a baseline of 590kg/t in 2018. It reported a 5% reduction to 562kg/t in its 2022 sustainability report. Ultimately the group is targeting net zero emissions from its activities by 2050.
Bamburi Cement’s half-year profit hit by tax claim in Uganda
04 September 2023Kenya/Uganda: Bamburi Cement’s profit after tax has been adversely affected by a tax claim in the first half of 2023. The cement producer said that its profit after tax was reduced due to the “settlement of corporation tax matters in Uganda.” Its turnover grew by 11% year-on-year to US$153m from US$138m in the same period in 2022. However, its profit after for tax fell by 7% to US$604,000 from US$652,000. As well as operating plants in Kenya, the subsidiary of Switzerland-based Holcim runs Hima Cement in Uganda.
Reporting by the Business Daily newspaper has revealed that the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) started a review in 2020 of Hima Cement’s transfer pricing compliance between 2014 and 2018. The URA then raised its corporation tax assessment for Hima Cement in December 2022. Bamburi Cement has also faced additional penalties and interest charges from the Kenya Revenue Authority.