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Switzerland: Holcim recorded net sales of US$6.75bn in the first quarter of 2022, up by 20% year-on-year from US$5.62bn in the first quarter of 2021. The group’s recurring earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBIT) rose by 16% to US$643m from US$553m. The company has upgraded its outlook 2022 to a forecast of full-year net sales growth of at least 10%.

CEO Jan Jenisch said “I am very encouraged by the record start of the year, setting a solid foundation to our Strategy 2025 – Accelerating Green Growth.”

The first quarter of 2022 brought four new bolt-on acquisitions in addition to the group’s conclusion of its US$1.35bn Malarkey Roofing Products acquisition. The company says that it remains actively engaged in supporting humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.

Holcim has also published its industry-first Climate Report 2022. The report details the company’s progress towards achieving its sustainability targets under the four pillars of its Strategy 2025 – Accelerating Green Growth. Under the Accelerating Growth pillar, Holcim reached a total of 15 markets with its ECOPlanet reduced-CO₂ cement range. Under Expanding Solutions & Products, it reduced the proportion of cement sales in its consolidated sales to 57% in 2021 from 60% in 2020. Its other pillars are Leading in Innovation and Sustainability and Delivering Superior Performance. In 2021, the company used 6.6Mt of recycled construction and demolition waste in its products, against a 2050 target of 10Mt.

Chief sustainability and innovation officer Magali Anderson said “On our net-zero journey, we are walking the talk at Holcim, taking clear science-driven action to win the race for climate.”

UK: Cemex UK has announced the global launch of its OnPoint coloured cement mortars for off-site and urban architectural applications. The range includes 35 colour palette options.

Europe regional mortars sales manager Mike May said “On heritage projects, we can now accurately colour-match existing mortars for repointing and maintenance work. Our existing buildings account for more than 35% of the world’s energy consumption, so solutions like Cemex OnPoint can significantly contribute to a more efficient built environment and a better future for all.”

Saudi Arabia: Al Kifah Ready-Mix & Blocks (KRB) has announced the upcoming launch of its ConGreen reduced-CO₂ concrete products range at the Big 5 Saudi construction summit on 28 – 31 March 2022. ConGreen concretes replace clinker with lower-carbon materials such as pozzolan and use Canada-based Carbon Cure Technologies’ embedded recycled CO₂ technology to reduce its carbon footprint by up to 30% compared to conventional ordinary Portland cement (OPC) concretes. In addition to this, KRB says that ConGreen concretes also provide improved workability and pumpability properties, as well as being highly durable, with high passing and finishability. They have very low rapid chloride permeability (RCP), water absorption and water permeability properties and low heat of hydration.

General Manager Nigel Harries said “We are committed to driving energy efficiency and addressing the global emission challenges. We aim to help build a better community and environment-friendly facilities by producing high-quality concrete, such as ConGreen, that has a reduced environmental impact and is characterised by its high performance, durability and sustainability, with a low carbon footprint as compared with standard concrete.”

Germany: Master Builders Solutions has announced the addition of a new range of admixtures consisting of MasterEase and Master X-Seed to its admixtures portfolio. The company developed MasterEase and Master X-Seed to best enable European cement companies to produce cement of the EU’s new CEM II/C-M and CEM VI Portland-composite cements. Master Builders Solutions hopes that the new products will drive the construction industry’s transition to low-clinker cements and CO2-optimised concrete.

Parent company MBCC Group’s European president Christian Geierhaas said “Providing sustainable solutions is a key factor of Master Builders Solutions’ portfolio and overall strategy. Strong partnerships are essential and support and accelerate the development of significant innovations. We work with major players to continuously develop efficient admixtures to add value to our customers and achieve a long-term sustainable positive effect on the construction industry.” He added “In addition to the usual performance criteria, such as fluidity and compressive strength, our new solutions for our ready-mix customers are characterised by their outstanding robustness. Our admixtures provide an important differentiator by guaranteeing consistently high quality concrete, even upon variation of the cement type and fluctuation of the raw materials used to produce these new, more sustainable cements.”

UK: Ecocem has reported the successful delivery of the first batch of its Exegy ultra-low CO2 concrete at the site of the upcoming EcoPark South waste management hub at Edmonton EcoPark in London. Infrastructure construction company Taylor Woodrow carried out the work. Ecocem says that Taylor Woodrow used Ecocem Ultra concrete from the new Exegy range, reducing the carbon footprint of the project’s concrete by 70%.

Ecocem says that it has secured contracts for the supply of Ecocem Ultra concrete to the sites of the upcoming Grand Paris Express transport link and Paris Athletes’ Village in Paris in Paris, France.

India: The Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) has certified the sustainability claims of Dalmia Cement’s portfolio of blended cements. The portfolio consists of composite cement, Portland pozzolan cement and Portland slag cement. The council employed a full-cycle assessment of the cements’ impacts.

Head of sales, marketing and logstics Sanjay Wali said “We see GreenPro’s accreditation as a milestone in our journey to becoming carbon-negative by 2040. This also reaffirms our blended cement products’ green supremacy, which is accelerating the global transition from a grey to green reality.”

Canada: France-based Fives FCB has secured a contract to upgrade the grinding unit at Ciment Québec’s Saint Basile integrated plant in Quebec. The supplier will install two FCB Horomill grinding workshops with FCB TSV 5000 THF classifiers, FCB aerodecanters and flash dryers and Fives TGT process filters. It said that its mills met the customer’s specifications: namely zero water use; minimum power consumption; data processing; and full automation with rapid recipe change.

Ciments Québec president and chief executive officer Luc Papillon said “After a thorough technical review of the various technologies available today for cement grinding, we have selected the Horomill, being confident that it is the best adapted solution for our multiple cements portfolio and our quest to reduce our cement environmental footprint.”

Germany: Cementos Molins has concluded its acquisition of calcium aluminate cement producer Calucem following all regulatory approvals. Calucem operates the Pula grinding plant in Istria, Croatia and a bauxite quarry in Turkey. The new acquisition positions Cementos Molins as the world's second largest calcium aluminate cement producer. The company said that it expands and enhances its innovative and sustainable product range in line with its sustainable growth strategy.

CEO Julio Rodríguez said “I warmly welcome the Calucem team into the Cementos Molins family. Today marks a new and exciting milestone in the history of Calucem and Cementos Molins and, with this integration, we have excellent business development opportunities for a new step forward to our strategy of profitable and sustainable growth.”

Calucem CEO Yuri Bouwhuis said “We are excited about the integration into Cementos Molins, where we will accelerate our development and create together more value for all our stakeholders.”