Displaying items by tag: lime

Europe: Capsol Technologies has signed a contract to deliver a feasibility study evaluating the use of its CapsolEoP® (End-of-Pipe) carbon capture technology at a European lime plant, with the potential to capture several hundred thousand tonnes of CO₂ annually. This marks Capsol’s first project in the lime sector.

Chief business development officer Johan Jungholm said “This is an important milestone in our mission to decarbonise hard-to-abate sectors like lime production and represents our first project within this industry. Initial assessments indicate that CapsolEoP® would be particularly suited for carbon capture in lime production due to the energy-efficient design of the technology – featuring low energy consumption and operating without the need for external steam.”

The European Lime Association targets carbon capture from 5–10% of kiln-related emissions by 2030, with full capture by 2050.

Chile: cbb (formerly Cementos Bío Bío), has announced a binding agreement to sell all of its shares to Belgium-based producer Carmeuse, which will launch a tender offer for 100% of the shares of the company ‘no later than 13 August 2025’, according to Noticias Financieras. Shareholders representing 64.57% of the shares signed the Agreement to Tender, obliging them to transfer their holdings to Carmeuse subsidiary Carmel Holdings. The offer will value the company at US$505m, equivalent to US$1.91/share.

Carmeuse specialises in lime and limestone derivatives and operates 90 production sites worldwide. The acquisition aligns with its interest in cbb’s lime production through subsidiary Bío Bío Cales, which operates plants in Antofagasta and Copiapó.

The announcement of the sale comes after a race for control of the company at the end of 2024. In December 2024, Peru-based Yura acquired 0.81% of shares through a public offer, increasing its stake to 20.75%. Mississippi Lime Company also submitted a non-binding offer for the company for US$1.89/share in May 2024, but later withdrew.

Norway: thyssenkrupp Polysius will supply the kiln system for SMA Mineral’s quicklime plant, designed to operate without CO₂ emissions using SaltX’s electric calcination technology. The pilot facility is scheduled for completion in 2027, and will produce 40,000t/yr of quicklime. The project has received €24m in funding from Norwegian state enterprise Enova.

thyssenkrupp Polysius CEO Christian Myland said “We are proud to contribute to this landmark project that sets a new standard for sustainable lime production. Our collaboration with SMA Mineral and SaltX Technology demonstrates how industrial partnerships can accelerate the transition to net-zero emissions. This project is a testament to our commitment to engineering solutions that drive decarbonisation.”

The partnership between SaltX Technology and thyssenkrupp Polysius follows the signing of a Letter of Intent in February 2025.

Papua New Guinea: The government will support the Mayur Lime and Cement Project (MLCP) and other lime and cement initiatives under the Special Economic Zones policy, aiming to eliminate cement imports, according to local press reports.

Minister for international trade and investment Richard Maru said the Marape-Rosso government wants to replace all imported cement and lower domestic costs.

He said “Cement is essential in building our nation. We have four other limestone projects on the way, in Central, Morobe (Finschhafen) and Chimbu. We want to see all our roads built with cement from the lime resources within PNG. We do not want to see any of our lime by-products like clinker to be sent overseas. All our lime must be used for our nation-building projects in PNG.”

He added “We are currently importing cement from China and we know that our cement factory in Lae is importing cement from other countries. We want this to cease when this project starts. We have enough resources here to supply our own needs and be the net exporter of cement.”

Peru: Grupo Gloria plans to invest US$100m in an upcoming lime plant in Lima. OneStone Consulting has reported that the plant will supply lime for Lima’s construction, agriculture and mining sectors.

Grupo Gloria subsidiary Cal & Cemento Sur already operates a five-kiln lime plant in Puno Region with five kilns, comprising three Maerz Parallel Flow Regeneration (PFR) vertical kilns and two horizontal kilns.

Australia: The Australian government’s ‘unwillingness’ to impose a carbon levy on imported cement, lime and clinker is threatening decarbonisation efforts and could cost up to 1400 jobs, according to the Financial Review.

The Cement Industry Federation, which represents local producers Adbri, Boral and Cement Australia, has said that the absence of a carbon levy on imports from countries with less robust climate commitments paved the way for the offshoring of local manufacturing, a process known as ‘carbon leakage’.

It said “Not addressing the issue of carbon leakage in a timely manner will be detrimental to Australian cement and lime manufacturing and could lead to the unnecessary loss of key Australian cement and lime facilities."

Imports currently account for over 40% of domestic clinker consumption and originate largely from southeast Asia. In 2023, an energy expert was appointed by the government to assess the feasibility of an Australian carbon border adjustment mechanism, with a final recommendation expected to be delivered in 2024. However, only an interim report was released in November 2024, with the final advice now reportedly due after the election in May 2025.

US: Carbon capture firm Nuada and lime producer MLC (formerly Mississippi Lime Company) have signed a memorandum of understanding to demonstrate net-zero lime production at MLC's Ste. Genevieve plant in Missouri. The partners aim to contribute to a reduction of the facility’s CO₂ emissions by 95%.

Nuada’s technology uses metal-organic frameworks as a solid sorbent alongside vacuum swing pressure adsorption, which utilises pressure rather than heat to separate CO₂ from flue gases.

Co-CEO Jose Casaban said "Our breakthrough in carbon capture technology sets a new standard for energy efficiency, paving the way for transformative decarbonisation in hard-to-abate sectors like lime manufacturing. Through this collaboration with MLC, we are driving the next generation of carbon capture forward, setting a new standard for emissions reduction and sustainability in the lime industry."

US: Researchers at UCLA's Institute for Carbon Management have developed a new method called ZeroCAL that could eliminate ‘nearly all’ of the carbon dioxide emissions from the process of cement production, according to the UCLA Newsroom. The team created a process using limestone and a water-based solution containing ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid. Through membrane nanofiltration and an electrochemical process, they produced calcium hydroxide.

To meet ZeroCAL’s water demand, the team suggests focusing on cement plants near coasts or rivers. The researchers are reportedly working with Ultratech Cement to build a demonstration plant that will produce ‘several’ tonnes of lime per day using the ZeroCAL process. Currently, the process requires more energy than traditional lime production methods, but ongoing research aims to reduce its energy consumption.

Gaurav Sant, director of the Institute and professor at UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, said “The ZeroCAL approach offers an elegant solution to eliminate carbon dioxide emissions associated with the process of cement production. First, it addresses the carbon emissions resulting from limestone’s decomposition while providing clean hydrogen and oxygen to heat the cement kiln. Second, it enables onsite decarbonisation while making use of existing kilns and limestone feedstocks without having to build separate carbon capture and storage facilities.”

CRH, formerly Cement Roadstone Holdings, announced this week that CEO Albert Manifold is retiring at the end of 2024. He will be replaced by current chief financial officer Jim Mintern in the role. Manifold will continue to work as an advisor to CRH in 2025. Manifold’s time at the head of CRH marks a decade of considerable change at the group. Crudely, CRH had a market capitalisation of US$19bn at the start of 2014 when Manifold became CEO. At the end of 2023 the group’s market capitalisation was US$50bn.

From a cement sector perspective the big events during Manifold’s tenure include CRH’s acquisition of assets around the world from the Lafarge-Holcim merger in 2015, the purchase of Ash Grove Cement in the US in 2018, the divestment of various businesses in emerging markets and the move of the company’s primary listing to the New York Stock Exchange in 2023. However, at the same time, CRH has been constantly sharpening its portfolio. So, for example, the group bought Germany-based lime and aggregates company Fels in 2017 only to later sell off its European lime business in 2023 and 2024. In the late 2010s the group sold off its US and Europe-based distribution businesses. Then, in 2022, it divested its Building Envelope business. Manifold was also the inaugural president of the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) when it formed in 2018.

Fairly or unfairly, CRH has given the sense over the last decade of often being ahead of the curve in following the cement markets. After it increased its portfolio when Lafarge and Holcim merged, it sold up relatively quickly in India and Brazil. Famously during an earnings call for CRH’s second quarter results in 2019, Manifold said that the group was prioritising its businesses in the developed world. CRH’s focus on the US in the late 2010s through the acquisition of Ash Grove Cement set it up well for the current strength of the cement market in North America, long before others joined the party. Another striking Manifold statement came at the company’s annual general meeting in 2023 when, in the run-up to the US listing move, he described his company as a ‘de facto’ American company.

Things that may have gone less well for Manifold on the cement side, that we know about, include CRH’s quiet attempt to divest its business in the Philippines in the late 2010s. The company wasn’t alone in trying through. Holcim publicly said that it had signed a deal to sell its local business in 2019 only to declare that it wasn’t happening the following year. Cemex is currently in the process of selling its subsidiary in the country, DMCI Holdings, but it hasn’t concluded yet. More recent acquisitions such as assets from Martin Marietta Materials in Texas in early 2024 and a majority stake in Adbri in Australia are clearly strategic and fit the definition of ‘bolt-on’ but they seem to lack the grand ambition of the earlier big deals.

Questions have also been asked about Manifold’s pay over the years. From 2016 onwards the Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), for example, has repeatedly raised concerns about executive pay rises at CRH and recommended on occasion that shareholders reject them. Manifold became the highest paid head of an Irish public company and was reportedly the third highest paid CEO on the Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index (FTSE 100) in 2022. His response from one interview with the Irish Times newspaper in 2018 was simply: “I’m employed and paid very well to deliver shareholder returns.”

Looking back over the last decade, CRH was well placed to take advantage of the Lafarge-Holcim merger before Manifold started in 2014 but once he was in place it went for it and he led the charge. Yet, the Ash Grove Cement acquisition may prove to be the more momentous move given the current divergence of the European and North American markets. As readers may remember from the time, Summit Materials made a public counter offer but it was rebuffed. Albert Manifold was in charge of CRH and so he takes the credit. These are big shoes to fill. As Richie Boucher, the chair of CRH said in Manifold’s outgoing statement, “Under Albert’s leadership CRH has delivered superior growth and performance with consistently improving profitability, cash generation and returns.”

Europe: CRH has finalised the sale of its lime operations across Europe for US$1.1bn. The transaction concluded with the divestment of the group’s operations in Poland.