Spain: Holcim España invested Euro4m in an upgrade to its 1.5Mt/yr Carboneras cement plant in Almería. Alimarket-Construction News has reported that the upgrade will raise the plant’s alternative fuel (AF) substitution rate to 70% and enable it to dispose of 50,000t/yr of waste through co-processing it as AF. Holcim España expects this to reduce its CO₂ emissions by 22,000t/yr.

Germany: Heidelberg Materials preliminary reported a 4% year-on-year decline in its sales during the third quarter of 2023, to Euro 5.6bn. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 17% to Euro1.39bn from Euro1.28bn. The group succeeded in raising its profit in the quarter, by 24% year-on-year to Euro1.08bn.

Heidelberg Materials says that it expects to record a ‘moderate increase’ in its revenues in full-year 2023. The company raised its profit target range for the year to Euro2.85 – 3bn from Euro2.7 – 2.9bn.

India: Udaipur Cement Works commissions second kiln line at its Udaipur cement plant in Rajasthan. Reuters has reported that the new line doubles the plant’s clinker capacity to 3Mt/yr.

India: Sagar Cements reported sales worth US$136m in the first half of the 2024 financial year. This corresponds to a year-on-year rise of 9.1% from US$124m in the first half of the previous financial year. The producer recorded a loss for the period of US$6.31m, down by 3.9% from US$6.57m. This was in spite of a 7.8% rise in its total costs, to US$148m.

Mexico: Cementos Moctezuma has awarded a contract to France-based Fives FCB to supply an FCB Horomill 3800 grinding mill for its Morelos cement plant in Tepetzingo. The supplier says that the mill offers a lower power consumption than any competing product in the market. The latest mill will be the 15th Fives FCB mill at a Cementos Moctezuma cement plant in Mexico. Fives FCB says that its mills had accumulated 1.5m hours of operation across three different sites at the end of 2022.

Thailand: China-based intelligent dumptruck supplier Waytous has partnered with Siam Cement Group (SCG), as well as Thailand Advanced Info Service, Huawei, and Zhengzhou Yutong Mining Equipment, to develop full-scope automated operating systems for limestone mines. SCG will host a study at its Saraburi limestone mine in Central Thailand. The study will use Waytous’ driverless vehicles, supported by 5G, AI, cloud computing and new battery technologies.

Waytous CEO Chen Long "We've carried out two phases of unmanned mining research for this project and found the most comprehensive, efficient, and effective unmanned solution for cement mines in Saraburi.”

Qatar: Qatar National Cement recorded a net profit of US$41.6m during the first nine months of 2023. Reuters has reported that this corresponds to a drop of 11% year-on-year from US$46.9m in the same period of 2022.

Tanzania: The Fair Competition Tribunal (FCT) lamented the ‘mischief prevailing in the market’ in a ruling nullifying the Fair Competition Commission (FCC)’s approval of Scancem International’s planned acquisition of a 68% stake in Tanga Cement, dated 28 February 2023. The Citizen newspaper has reported that the FCT granted the parties leave to apply for a review of its earlier decision of 23 September 2022, in which it initially rejected the attempted deal. In its latest judgment, the tribunal drew on principles from South African law to show that companies should be able to submit a new application within one year of rejection, provided there is a ‘substantial change’ of circumstances or market dynamics. The court added that no blame lay with the parties for having lodged their second attempted merger notification within such a timeframe.

India: Adani Group has reportedly indicated an interest in acquiring the 1.2Mt/yr Shahabad cement plant in Karnataka from Jaiprakash Associates. The plant is the subject of an as yet incomplete deal between Jaiprakash Associates and Dalmia Bharat for the transfer of the former’s cement and power plants for US$671m.

The Business Standard newspaper has reported that Adani Group is in talks with ‘several companies’ over possible bolt-on acquisitions, with a view to doubling its cement capacity to 140Mt/yr by the end of 2028.

Switzerland: Reduced-CO₂ cement catalyst developer Nanogence has secured an undisclosed sum from a consortium of investors led by investment fund CirCap. Nanogence’s catalyst reduces the CO₂ emissions of cement production by 40%, without changing production processes. Tech EU News has reported that the catalyst is capable of increasing cement’s strength and durability compared with that of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) produced without it. Prior to the latest financial development, the company had raised US$2.7m-worth of funding.

CEO Abhishek Kumar said “We are excited to receive the support from incoming renowned investors in this essential journey to accelerate the transition towards a low carbon built world. With growing demand worldwide, we need to align with like-minded strong backers for our growth phase.”