US: Fortera has inaugurated its first ‘green’ cement production facility in North America, located in Redding, California. The 2787m² ReCarb plant operates alongside the existing CalPortland cement plant, capturing CO₂ emissions and mineralising the CO₂ into calcium carbonate for production of the company’s low-carbon ReAct cement. The process reportedly reduces emissions by 70% compared to traditional methods, yielding a tonne of ‘green’ cement for every tonne of limestone input. The facility aims to capture 6600t/yr of CO₂ and to produce 15,000t/yr of ‘green’ cement.

According to Fortera CEO Ryan Gilliam, Fortera currently has 20 upcoming projects with various cement producers, which will cost US$150m each. This includes a plant in the Midwest that will be a 25-fold capacity increase compared to the Redding plant, producing 400,000t/yr of ‘green’ cement.

India: Ambuja Cements will acquire the grinding unit of My Home Group in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, for US$49.6m. The unit has a capacity of 1.5Mt/yr. The acquisition is spread across a 24.6-hectare site near Tuticorin Port and comes with a long-term fly ash agreement.

The CEO of Cement Business at Adani Group, Ajay Kapur said "In addition to the infrastructure and geographical advantages, Ambuja Cements will also inherit the existing dealer network and retain current employees, facilitating a smooth transition and enabling the rapid ramp-up of utilisation."

The total cement capacity of Adani Group now stands at 78.9Mt/yr.

Portugal: Workers from Cimpor, along with those from its subsidiaries Ciarga Argamassas, Serviços and Sacopor, will participate in a three-day strike from 16 – 19 April 2024. The Portuguese Federation of Construction, Ceramics and Glass Trade Unions (FEVICCOM) announced that strike rallies are scheduled for 8am daily near the entrances to cement plants in Souselas, Alhandra and Loulé.

The workers are demanding an 8% salary increase in 2024, with a minimum of €200, a 37-hour work week starting 1 January 2025, annual bonuses, shift work compensation and public holidays in continuous work regimes. Cimpor management previously raised salaries by 4.5% at the start of 2024. This is above the inflation rate in Portugal and twice the increase seen by the civil service. Cimpor added that it had previously increased salaries above the rate of inflation in previous years.

Belarus: Despite revenue increases for two of its three major cement companies, the cement industry in Belarus recorded net losses in 2023. According to Business World Magazine Ukraine, Krychaucementnashyfer saw a 9.3% rise compared to the previous year, while Krasnaselskstroymateryjaly experienced a 5.6% year-on-year rise in revenue. Conversely, Belarusian Cement Plant's revenue declined by 2.9%. Overall, the sector's losses totalled nearly US$64.2m, representing a year-on-year increase of 50%.

Krychaucementnashyfer's losses escalated nearly fourfold to US$36.9m, while Krasnaselskstroymateryjaly's losses doubled to US$16.9m. However, Belarusian Cement Plant managed to reduce its net loss by 16%, resulting in a loss of US$10.5m.

Germany: Heidelberg Materials has begun work on the GeZero project at its Milke plant in Geseke. The €500 million project will implement carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology to prevent the release of CO₂, instead capturing and storing it under the North Sea. According to the Westfälische Rundschau, the project has secured €191m in funding from the EU, with Heidelberg Materials covering the remaining amount. The company anticipates completing the plant conversion by 2029, with interim CO₂ transport via rail and potential future pipeline connections. According to the company, around 700,000t/yr of CO₂ is currently produced by the plant.

There had been potential changes in project partnerships due to the sale of BASF subsidiary Wintershall Dea, which was to provide the transport and storage solutions, to Harbour Energy. However, plant manager Steffen Gajewski expects that planning for the conversion of the plant will be completed in 2025, when the new oxyfuel kilns to capture the CO₂ will be ordered and installed.

Germany: Holcim is investing a three-figure million sum into its cement plant in Lägerdorf, Steinburg, according to the Segeberger Zeitung. The plant will employ a second-generation oxyfuel kiln line to increase the concentration of CO₂ in the flue gas during clinker production. The project aims to capture 1Mt/yr of CO₂. The new kiln line is expected to be operational by 2029.

State Secretary for Energy, Joschka Knuth, said "The decarbonisation of Holcim is a very important signal for the entire industrial location of Germany."

Canada: Heidelberg Materials North America has announced a new front end engineering design (FEED) contract for its Edmonton carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) project. This involves MHI Low Carbon Solutions Canada (MHI-LCSC) and Kiewit Energy Group who will collaborate on the carbon capture technology at the plant. The FEED study will leverage MHI's Advanced KM CDR Process, which uses the KS-21 solvent. The Edmonton plant aims to capture 1Mt/yr of CO₂.

Vice President at Kiewit, Rob Medley, said "Heidelberg Materials is taking a major step towards decarbonising hard to abate industries by deploying innovative and effective carbon capture technology."

Australia: Boral has endorsed Seven Group Holdings' (SGH) increased takeover offer after the bidder enhanced its proposal. According to Business News Western Australia, Boral is now recommending its shareholders accept SGH's offer, previously rejected in March 2024. The offer has risen from an initial US$0.98/share to a maximum of US$1.11/share. An on-market buyback is also an option at up to US$4.19/share, with total shareholder value estimated between US$4.02 and US$4.17.

Boral's independent corporate advisory company, Grant Samuel, now finds the offer ‘reasonable’. SGH has increased its stake in Boral to 78.8% and proposes further governance adjustments by adding two more executives to Boral's board.

Managing director of SGH, Ryan Stokes, said "We are pleased to offer Boral shareholders the maximum consideration under our offer. Both new and existing SGH shareholders also stand to benefit from the US$0.20/share fully franked dividend that SGH will pay following completion of the offer." The offer period is extended to 15 May 2024.

Nigeria: The government has threatened to reopen borders for mass cement importation if local producers do not reduce prices. The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, said that the country had recently seen a ‘recurring and concerning increase in the price of cement’, according to the People’s Daily newspaper. Recent price hikes have threatened an agreement made in February 2024 to stabilise the price of cement. The government had previously halted cement imports to boost local production and affordability, yet producers cite high fuel and equipment costs as factors driving up prices.

The Cement Manufacturing Association of Nigeria has been criticised for its inaction in price regulation. Dangiwa said “The association is expected to monitor price control, otherwise it has no need to exist.”

China: Shares of China Tianrui Group Cement plummeted by 99% in just 15 minutes before Hong Kong’s stock market closed on 9 April 2024, according to Reuters. This led to a decrease in the market value of the company, to US$17m from US$1.86bn. The cause of the sudden drop remains unknown and trading in Tianrui shares is suspended pending an announcement on ‘inside information’.

In the 2023 financial year, the company recorded a net loss of US$45.8m, compared to its US$62m net profit in 2022. This downturn is partly attributed to the struggles in China's property sector.