India: Grasim Industries' full-year consolidated sales were US$12.3bn in the 2022 financial year, up by 25% year-on-year from US$9.85bn. Its net profit rose by 60% to US$1.44bn from US$901m.

India: Cement producers and analysts say that a government cut to fuel duty may reduce the price of cement. The reduction may be minimal but it will stand out amongst inflation on other input costs for cement production, according to sources quoted by the Business Standard newspaper. Shree Cement hopes to pass on any reduction in costs from transportation to consumers but UltraTech Cement and JSW Cement are yet to announce a price cut. Most cement producers raised their prices by 8% month-on-month in April 2022 with a similar increase expected in May 2022.

India: Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL) says that it will inaugurate the 82km Punjab section of the upcoming Eastern Freight Corridor railway before the end of 2022. The line will form part of the 175km Punjab - Uttar Pradesh section and connect Western Indian cement plants and other industries by high-speed link with Central markets. Workers will divert the existing railway between Mandi Gobindgarh and Sirhind to make way for the line.

DFCCIL previously inaugurated the corridor's central Bhaupur - Khurja section in Uttar Pradesh in January 2021.

China: Tangshan Jidong Cement plans to launch a share buyback scheme by mid-2023. Reuters News has reported the value of the planned scheme as US$39.9 - 55.8m.

Saudi Arabia: Najran Cement recorded sales of US$37.3m in the first quarter of 2022, down by 24% year-on-year from US$49.2m. The producer's net profit was US$6.21m in the quarter, down by 61% from US$16.1m. During the quarter, the production costs increased for the company.

Chile: Melón has inaugurated a new 0.25Mt/yr grinding plant in Punta Arenas. The project had an investment of US$45m, according to the El Pingüino newspaper. In its first year of operation an output of 80,000t is planned. It is the first cement plant in the Magallanes Region. Spain-based Cemengal supplied a Plug&Grind Xtreme grinding unit for the project.

Jorge Eugenín, the chief executive officer of Cementos Melón, attended the event and said, “For us Magallanes has always been an interesting market. Its consumption is comparable to cities in developed countries.” He added that the region has a per capita cement consumption level of 550kg/yr compared to the Chilean mean of 280kg/yr.

The cement producer previously announced plans to double the production of the plant by building a second grinding mill if the market supported it. Eugenín commented that the announcement of a large-scale hydrogen project in the region by Total Eren in late 2021 could add further momentum to expansion plans for the new cement plant.

US: Drake Cement & Materials has inaugurated a new finish mill at its integrated plant at Paulden in Arizona. Chief executive officer Enrique Rozas and Ricardo Rizo Patron, the chairman of parent company Skanon Investments, attended the event. Drake Cement & Materials is a subsidiary of Peru-based UNACEM.

France: Germany-based IKN says it successfully commissioned a new Pendulum Cooler at Lafarge France’s Martres cement plant earlier in the year. The 2500t/day cooler was supplied for the new production line at the unit. It is also equipped with a single grate Dynamic Linear Drive and a roll crusher with three rolls at the cooler end as well as a bypass. It is designed to be used with an alternative fuels thermal substitution rate of up to 85%. IKN thanked Lafarge France and China-based CBMI for their cooperation on the project. The new production line was commissioned in January 2022.

Russia: SibCem’s first vice president Gennady Rasskazov says that the local production cost of cement is expected to rise by 30% year-on-year in 2022 due to the new ‘economic circumstances’ the country faces. He added that, due to economic sanctions, the price of coal rose by 76 - 86%, goods and materials by 55%, diesel by 30%, oils and lubricants by 83% and transport and logistics costs by 14 - 24% in the first quarter of 2022. The average growth in worker pay at SibCem will rise by 30% in 2022 as the company has implemented indexed salaries. Rasskazov made the comments at a meeting with cement producers, consumers and local officials at the Novosibirsk State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering.

UK: The South Downs National Park Authority has published its Area Action Plan for the site of the former Shoreham cement plant in West Sussex. The plan will guide the development of the site into a new mixed-use development. The Sussex Express newspaper has reported that the authority will hold a public consultation from 7 June 2022 to 2 August 2022, at which it will set out detailed policies for planning applications. Their scope will include biodiversity and ecology, landscape and design, recreation and tourism, the economy and jobs, new homes, cultural heritage, transport and climate change.