Displaying items by tag: Sustainability

Mexico: Cemex recorded consolidated net sales of US$14.5bn in 2021, up by 14% year-on-year. Sales rose by 10% to US$4.83bn in Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia, by 9% to US$4.36bn in the US, by 23% to US$3.47bn in Mexico and by 16% to US$1.57bn in South, Central America and the Caribbean. The group’s operating earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) also rose, by 18% to US$2.86bn.

CEO Fernando González said “We are very pleased to report exceptional financial and strategic performance during 2021, despite the unprecedented challenges from Covid-19 and cost inflation.” He continued “In 2021, under our Future in Action programme, we accelerated our climate action ambition, establishing more aggressive 2030 decarbonisation goals as well as a detailed plant-by-plant roadmap to reach the targets. With our enhanced roadmap in place, we achieved our lowest carbon emission level on record and our largest annual year-on-year decline. And we pushed the boundaries on innovation, introducing new sustainable products and developing breakthrough decarbonisation technologies. Our performance gives me great confidence that we can reach not only our 2030 climate goal but also our Net Zero ambition.”

Pakistan: Power Cement has received the International Standards Organisation (ISO)’s ISO 50001:2018 certification for the energy performance of its management systems.

The producer said “We are on a never-ending quest to improve the environment for future generations by promoting the usage of sustainable energy.”

Italy: Cementir’s revenue grew by 11% year-on-year to Euro1.36bn in 2021 from Euro1.22bn in 2020. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 17.9% to Euro311m from Euro264m. Sales volumes of cement and concrete increased by 4.1% to 11.2Mt and 14.8% to 5.01Mm3 respectively.

“2021 marked for Cementir the year of the historic record of revenues and EBITDA despite the uncertainties related to the pandemic crisis, the substantial increase in energy costs, materials and services and the devaluation of the Turkish lira,” said Francesco Caltagirone Jr, chair and chief executive officer of Cementir.

The group also reviewed and approved the three-year Group Industrial Plan update for the period 2022 - 2024 and the 2022 budget. It has a target of reduce CO₂ emissions (scope 1) by 30% in 2030 compared to 1990 levels. It is also planning to invest Euro116m in the 2022 – 2025 to meet this goal and others. Some of this will go towards building a new production line at its integrated Gaurain cement plant in Belgium, where the work is intended to raise the unit’s alternative fuels substitution rate to 80% from 40%. The group noted that this project has been delayed to 2022 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Changes at other cement plants include switching to natural gas and biogas as well as energy efficiency projects. It is also said it was planning to ‘significantly’ increase the production of its FUTURECEM calcined clay cement and related sustainable products.

Colombia: Cemex Colombia has recorded accumulated sales of 500,000m3 of its Vertua reduced-CO₂ concrete. It aims to achieve net zero CO₂ emissions by 2050.

President Alejandro Ramírez said “Our Vertua concrete sales volume is excellent news for the country. It demonstrates that a sustainable vision of construction is being consolidated in Colombia, conscious of its decisive contribution to global climate action.”

China: China National Building Material subsidiary Nanjing Kisen has signed a long-term collaboration agreement with France-based Schneider Electric. The partners plan to develop models for increasing operational efficiency, digitisation and sustainability. Alliance News has reported that they will establish a series of joint pilot projects. They plan subsequently to explore plant engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) opportunities outside of China together.

Mexico: Holcim Mexico has replaced 11% of its concrete truck fleet with 61 new natural gas and Euro V diesel-fuelled Sinotruk vehicles worth US$6.2m. The company says that some of the trucks run on 100% natural gas, reducing both their CO₂ and particulate emissions by 25%. Parent company Holcim hopes eventually to roll out Sinotruk vehicles throughout operations in its Latin American region. Each truck has an 8m3-greater capacity than Holcim Mexico’s previous models, and also generates less noise.

Spain: Cemex’s Mósteles clinker pilot batch production unit at IMDEA Energy Institute in Madrid Autonomous Community has produced its first batch of solar-heated clinker. The unit uses Switzerland-based Synhelion solar radiation technology. The technology uses a solar receiver and gaseous heat transfer fluid to heat raw materials.

Cemex chief executive officer Fernando Gonzalez said “The production of the first solar clinker is an exciting milestone for this transformational technology. It is proof of our commitment to deliver tangible outcomes through innovation to achieve our goal of delivering only net-zero CO₂ concrete by 2050.” He concluded “Cemex is building a better future, and that future must be sustainable.”

India: Dalmia Cement (Bharat) has commissioned a 14.7MW solar power plant at its 1.3Mt/yr Kapilas grinding plant in Odisha. The producer says that the new power plant multiplies its total solar power capacity in Cuttack District by six to 17.1MW from 2.4MW.

The company said "Furthering Dalmia Cement (Bharat)'s sustainability goal of becoming carbon negative by 2040, this initiative will enhance the plant's energy efficiencies."

Switzerland/France: Holcim is collaborating with Engie and and the French National Institute of Applied Sciences (INSA) Lyon to develop a cement-based energy storage technology to serve as an alternative to batteries. The solution will use cement hydration to store heat as energy and release it when needed in an infinitely repeatable cycle. The partners say that it will make energy storage local, safe, affordable and recyclable.

Holcim’s head of global innovation Edelio Bermejo said "The world needs innovative solutions to accelerate our shift towards renewable energy generation, distribution and storage – all areas in which Holcim can play a big part. With this collaboration, we are moving energy storage forward, opening up a new range of solutions based on materials that are local and recyclable."

Colombia: Analyst S&P Global has given Grupo Argos the rank of Gold in its Sustainability Yearbook 2022. Grupo Argos is the only construction materials company to have achieved Gold in the yearbook. Thailand-based Siam Cement Group (SCG) ranked Silver, while Ireland-based CRH and Switzerland-based Holcim, along with the latter’s subsidiary Ambuja Cements, ranked Bronze.

Legal and sustainability vice president María Isabel Echeverri said “This recognition is a result of teamwork and the permanent commitment of Argos to building a better future in which the creation of value for society and for the company is our greatest motivation. We will continue to strengthen our initiatives and strive to positively contribute to the responsible development of our sector and the well-being of our stakeholders, to enable a more sustainable, prosperous and inclusive society.”