Displaying items by tag: Project

Papua New Guinea: Pacific Lime and Cement (PLC) has agreed a strategic partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to provide advisory support for PLC’s Phase 2 Central Cement Project in Central Province, Papua New Guinea. The project will be PNG’s first vertically integrated clinker and cement production facility, aimed at substituting imports and meeting domestic demand. IFC’s participation brings technical expertise and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards to the project, aligning it with international best practices and helping to de-risk the path toward full financing and construction. As part of the advisory scope, IFC will assess the project’s existing Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS) and recommend improvements to help PLC move toward compliance with IFC Performance Standards, a requirement for international finance.

Malaysia: Cahya Mata Sarawak has broken ground on its US$165m Mambong Clinker Line 2 project, an investment aimed at expanding cement production capacity to meet Sarawak’s growing infrastructure and industrial demand. The new line will increase clinker output from 0.9Mt/yr to 1.9Mt/yr and is scheduled to begin operations in mid-2027.

Group managing director Datuk Seri Sulaiman Abdul Rahman Taib said the project will ensure a stable supply of high-quality cement to support Sarawak’s long-term development. “This project not only strengthens our production capabilities, but more importantly guarantees a reliable supply of quality cement to support Sarawak’s fast-growing infrastructure and economy,” he said.

The plant will incorporate a waste heat recovery system capable of generating about 6MW of ‘electrical’ energy and will feature dust filtration systems to reduce emissions. Sarawak Premier Abang Johari said the expansion reduces reliance on imports.

UK: First Graphene has announced the successful large-scale production of around 600t of graphene-enhanced cement at Breedon’s Hope Cement Works in Derbyshire ahead of new trial projects rolling out across the UK. The batch contains 3t of First Graphene’s PureGRAPH-CEM® additive, and was produced in a single day. The product is now in storage ahead of despatch for use in three concrete projects across the UK. The University of Manchester will conduct compressive strength testing and analysis of the concrete’s performance.  The additive is introduced during the final milling stage, and is designed to reduce CO₂ emissions by up to 16% by lowering the clinker content in the cement.

The first trial involves using 30-40t of the graphene-enhanced cement to produce thousands of roof tiles at FP McCann’s Cadeby plant in Leicestershire. The five-month study is part of an Innovate UK-funded initiative aiming to improve resource efficiency and reduce construction waste in response to the UK government’s housing targets. First Graphene has also reportedly received further interest from organisations in both the UK and Australia for testing the material in various applications.

First Graphene CEO Michael Bell said “Adding graphene into cement has proven to deliver performance benefits for a wide range of applications, and multiple end uses of this cement batch reinforces PureGRAPH®'s versatility. We look forward to working closely with our strategic commercial partner Breedon, Morgan Sindall, FP McCann and the University of Manchester as application trials roll out over the coming months."

Türkiye: Batıçim–Batı Anadolu Çimento has secured a positive environmental impact assessment (EIA) decision from the İzmir Governorship for its proposed clinker grinding and packing plant in Aliağa, İzmir. The US$20.4m project will utilise a cement grinding mill with a capacity of 250t/hr, supported by four packing units (180t/hr each), 12 bulk loading units (150t/hr each), a 300t/hr crusher, and two 1000t ash silos. Total production capacity is projected at 3.5Mt/yr. Construction is expected to be completed within one year.

Australia: Boral has received US$16.6m in funding from the New South Wales Government to support an alternative fuel project at its Berrima Cement Works, aiming to reduce emissions and accelerate decarbonisation in cement manufacturing. The project will transition the kiln from coal to lower-carbon alternative fuels, with a target of 60% thermal energy substitution. Over its service life, the initiative is expected to reduce Scope 1 emissions by 1.6Mt. It will also divert an estimated 73,000t/yr of waste from landfill.

The grant was awarded under the NSW Government’s High Emitting Industries Grant programme, which supports manufacturing and mining facilities to develop and deploy decarbonisation projects to reduce emissions by 2030. Boral said that about 35% of its Scope 1 emissions come from fuel combustion, with the rest being process emissions from calcination during clinker production.

“This project will enable us to build technical and operational capabilities to sustainably achieve significant emissions reductions,” said Vik Bansal, Boral CEO and Managing Director. “We look forward to sharing our findings across the sector and helping to preserve and strengthen Australia’s domestic cement manufacturing capability for generations to come.”

US: Sublime Cement has announced a 10% workforce reduction and a pause in the development of its planned demonstration plant in Holyoke, Massachusetts, after the company failed to reverse a decision to cancel a US$86m federal grant, which would have funded 50% of the project. The company had been awarded the grant by the Department of Energy’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED), but the Trump administration cancelled all grants in May 2025. Sublime said that the loss of the grant disrupted the company’s financing plans and forced it to explore alternative scale-up options.

The company said in a statement “We are actively working through a robust set of alternative scale-up plans and have several exciting options to bring our first commercial plant online.”

Earlier in 2025, Microsoft committed to purchasing 623,000t of Sublime’s low-carbon cement to reduce the embodied emissions of its construction projects. The Holyoke plant was to supply the product, with a planned output of over 30,000t/yr. Sublime said that it remains in discussions with the Department of Energy.

Bulgaria: Greek carbon storage company EnEarth has signed a term sheet with Heidelberg Materials to negotiate exclusive agreements for the transport and storage of CO₂ from the Devnya cement plant. The project aims to capture, transport and store 0.8Mt/yr of CO₂ from the plant. It is part of a wider CCUS initiative by parent company Heidelberg Materials, called ANRAV, which aims to be the first full-chain CCUS project in Eastern Europe. It has received a €190m EU grant, including €38m for the storage site, and is scheduled to be operational before 2030.

Austria: Alpacem Cement Austria will invest in new infrastructure at its Wietersdorf site in Carinthia to process and utilise low-CO₂ alternative raw materials in cement production. The project aims to cut process-related CO₂ emissions by 51,000t/yr. The company will construct a new plant, expand conveying and storage facilities and modernise dosing systems to raise the share of alternative raw materials to 35%. The project is supported by a €21.6m grant under Austria’s ‘Transformation of Industry’ programme.

Yemen: Local authorities in Hadramout have inaugurated the country’s first solar facility at Arabian Yemen Cement’s cement plant, a US$11m project aimed at reducing dependence on fossil fuels and stabilising electricity supply. The facility integrates solar energy into cement production, with a system designed to manage the high loads required by crushers, mills and kilns, enabling uninterrupted operations. Officials described the project as a breakthrough for Yemen, which has struggled with energy shortages and rising fuel prices.

See the December issue of Global Cement magazine for more information on this story.

Lithuania: Scientists at Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) have developed methods to convert discarded textiles into alternative fuels and cement additives to reduce waste. Efforts focus on reducing the clinker content of cement and CO₂ output.

Dr Raimonda Kubiliute of the KTU Faculty of Chemical Technology said “The cement industry, especially clinker firing processes in rotary kilns, contributes significantly to environmental pollution. This is why researchers are actively seeking ways to reduce the amount of conventional cement in cement-based mixtures by replacing it with alternative binders or fillers.”

KTU found that polyester fibre from waste textiles, when added to concrete at 1.5%, increases compressive strength by 15-20% and improves freeze-thaw resistance. Ash from thermal treatment of textiles at 300°C in an inert atmosphere can replace up to 7.5% of ordinary Portland cement and increase strength by up to 16% under curing conditions. The findings are part of the ‘Production of Alternative Fuel from Textile Waste in Energy-Intensive Industries (Textifuel)’ project between KTU and the Lithuanian Energy Institute.

Dr Kubiliute said “This technological solution not only reduces CO₂ emissions during cement production but also provides an innovative and environmentally friendly approach to textile waste management.”