Austria: RHI Magnesita has invested in Australia-based MCi Carbon as part of a long-term strategic cooperation agreement to research and develop technologies to decarbonise the production of refractories. MCi Carbon sells a mineral carbonation process that creates a range of low-carbon embodied materials, including calcium and magnesium carbonate by carbonating minerals in by-products of industrial processes. RHI Magnesita intends to use this process to reduce its Scope 1 emissions from mineral processing during its refractory production process.

Stefan Borgas, the chief executive officer of RHI Magnesita, said "This partnership could become a breakthrough towards decarbonising the industry. It fits seamlessly with RHI Magnesita's ambitious sustainability strategy." He added "We still have a long way to go but our early-stage investment and the clear intention of a long-term collaboration make this day so memorable. Together with the like-minded team from MCi we will pave the way for a greener industry."

So far, both companies have worked together on CO₂ mitigation studies, mineral carbonisation feedstock assessments and techno-economic analyses at RHI Magnesita's sites around the world. In a next step, the companies' joint efforts will focus on industrial scale-up, expected to start in 2024 with the set-up of a demonstration plant by MCi at Newcastle in Australia, supported by the Australian government.

Mexico: Cemex’s net sales grew by 8% year-on-year to US$15.6bn in 2022 from US$14.4bn in 2021. Its operating earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 6% to US$2.68bn from US$2.84bn. Cement sales volumes decreased by 5% to 63.4Mt and ready-mix concrete sales rose by 2% to 50.1Mm3. However, the building materials producer reported a loss of US$99m in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to a profit of US$195m in the same period in 2021. It attributed this to an impairment for goodwill and fixed assets.

Fernando A González, the chief executive officer of Cemex, said “2022 was a year of unique challenges as inflation spiked to 40-year highs, but I am pleased by how we responded and expect to continue to see the benefits of our strategy play out in 2023.” He added, “Importantly, after several quarters in which we have been able to offset inflation in dollar terms, I am seeing growing evidence that actual margin recovery is underway.”

By region, net sales increased in Mexico but operating EBITDA fell. In the US sales grew but earnings were flat. In Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia sales rose and earnings increased on a like-for-like basis. In South, Central American and the Caribbean sales grew but earnings fell.

Bangladesh: Aman Cement has held a ceremony to launch a second 5000t/day vertical roller mill at its Unit 2 Siragonj grinding plant in Narayangonj. The plant now has a total production capacity of 10,000t/day, according to the Daily Star newspaper. Germany-based Loesche previously supplied the first mill for the plant.

Philippines: Century Peak Cement Manufacturing has started distributed its cement products to the Visayas region. Its blended hydraulic and ordinary Portland cement product received quality standard certification from the Department of Trade and Industry in January 2023.

Century Peak Cement operates a plant at Pinamungajan in Cebu with associated limestone reserves. The unit has its own pier.

Greece: Titan Cement has acquired a share in Aegean Perlites. The company operates perlite and pozzolan quarries on the island of Yali. It also has access to port facilities. Titan Group says it is making the investment to gain direct access to pozzolan reserves to increase its volume of pozzolan-based cementitious products with a lower clinker factor. The deal is connected to Titan’s target to reduce its CO₂ emissions by 35% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels, and increase the share of green products in its portfolio to over 50%.

Yanni Paniaras, the Group Executive Director Europe of Titan, said “We are pleased to partner with the Govdelas family as joint shareholders in Aegean Perlites, building on our excellent long-term collaboration and aiming to grow our business, maximising the high potential of the Yali pozzolans.”

Spain: Cement consumption fell by 1% year-on-year to 14.9Mt in 2022 from 14.8Mt in 2021. The Spanish cement association Oficemen blamed the slight decline on bad weather in December 2022. It also noted that the consumption volume in 2022 was the second highest in the last decade. Overall, Oficemen said that the market experienced a strong start in 2022 but energy costs and inflation, partly linked to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, started to slow down sales from May 2022.

Cement exports fell by 16.8% to 5.62Mt from 6.75Mt. Imports decreased by 5.4% to 1.35Mt from 1.43Mt. Oficemen has linked the fall in exports to high domestic energy and CO2 emission costs since 2019.

Belgium: Cembureau, the European cement association, has warned against a proposed 2041 phase-out date for industrial CO₂ in the Commission draft Delegated Act on renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBOs). The European Commission’s (EC) draft Delegated Act on the greenhouse gas saving criteria for RFNBOs sets the rules under which such fuels can qualify as sustainable. The European Commission considers that CO₂ from industrial sources should not be allowed for the production of synthetic fuels as of 2041, as this would go against the objective of carbon neutrality by 2050.

Koen Coppenholle, the chief executive officer of Cembureau, said “By proposing an arbitrary deadline on the use of industrial CO₂, the EC severely restricts the deployment of carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) in the cement sector.” He continued “We regret that this phase-out date was established without a thorough impact assessment. This risks negatively impacting several on-going carbon capture projects in the European Union (EU), at a time of a global race for green investments.” Coppenholle also called for a “real, thorough debate on CO₂ utilisation” to ensure that EU policies support CCU and the deployment of CO₂ transport infrastructure and storage.

The association is objecting against this proposal because in its view: manufacturing synthetic fuels using industrial CO₂ make a “decisive” contribution to climate mitigation in the short to medium term; no impact assessment has been presented by the EC; the delegated act threatens the viability of existing CCU projects in the cement sector, which require a payback time of 30 - 35 years; and the Delegated Act does not recognise the reality of industrial installations like cement plants, which are faced with unavoidable CO₂ emissions, and may not have access to CO₂ geological storage sites.

The Delegated Act will be passed to the European Parliament and Council for further scrutiny until April 2023 whereupon they will either accept to reject the proposals. The scrutiny period can be extended to June 2023 at the request of either body.

France: Holcim has opened what it says is the first calcined clay unit in Europe at its Saint-Pierre-la-Cour cement plant. The production line uses the company’s proximA Tech process to produce up to 0.5Mt/yr of products in the ECOPlanet range. The unit is powered with 100% biomass-based alternative fuels and uses waste heat recovery systems to make production “nearly carbon free and ultra-efficient.”

Miljan Gutovic, Region Head Europe for Holcim, said “The opening of the first calcined clay cement production line in Europe is another milestone in our mission to decarbonise building. We are scaling up our calcined clay cements across all regions by 2025, to advance our ECOPlanet range of low-carbon cement, making low-carbon construction possible at scale.”

The upgrade project received financial support from the French government, as part of the ‘France Relance’ scheme to invest in large-scale decarbonisation and energy efficiency initiatives.

Image by Simon de l'Ouest CC BY-SA 4.0

Vietnam: Analysis by SSI Research forecasts that the reopening of the Chinese economy, following its change in public health policy towards Covid-19, should increase cement exports in the second half of 2023. If this happens it is expected to reduce competition between producers in central and northern regions, according to the Việt Nam News newspaper. Signs of a recovery in cement exports to China were already noted in the fourth quarter of 2022. However, an increase in clinker export tariffs from the start of 2023 may presents a fresh issue for the producers. Cement and clinker exports from Vietnam fell by 29% year-on-year to 31.7Mt in 2022.

Singapore: Banking and financial services company DBS Group says it has controlled its exposure to India-based Adani Group. Chief executive officer Piyush Gupta said "They're solid, cash-generating companies, so we're not concerned about the exposure," according to Reuters. He added that the cement industry has ‘”huge potential” in India. The company was part of a group of banks that lent Adani Group US$10.5bn to fund its acquisition of Ambuja Cement and ACC from Holcim in 2022. DBS Group contributed around US$751m. Adani Group has seen its share price fall since US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research accused it of stock manipulation and accounting fraud in late January 2023.