Australia: Boral has selected Earlytrade to digitise its supplier payment and progress claim processes. The supplier says that it will help protect Boral's supply chain against inflation and insolvency trends. It will roll out its early payment technology for 5000 suppliers of Boral products, as well as subcontractors, across Australia.

Sweden: Swecem has ordered a 10 000 S type road-mobile ship unloader from Bruks Siwertell for cement handling at the Port of Helsingborg. The unit will have a continuous cement unloading capacity of 300t/hr and is able to discharge vessels up to around 10,000dwt. It will be delivered fully assembled to the operator’s import terminal in May 2022.

US: Eco Material Technologies has successfully completed its acquisition of near-zero carbon cement alternatives producer Green Cement. Eco Material Technologies previously agreed to acquire Boral’s US fly ash business in December 2021, a transaction which it expects to conclude in 2022.

India: ACC has commissioned its Tikaria grinding plant in Uttar Pradesh after completing work to expand its capacity by 69% to 3.91Mt/yr. The plant will help ACC to serve the country’s increasing demand and increase its presence in Central India, according to the producer. The United News of India newspaper has reported that the company commenced the project in January 2021.

CEO and managing director Sridhar Balakrishnan said "ACC's strong belief and resilience in these difficult times enabled the team to commission the additional capacity at the Tikaria grinding plant. Meticulous planning and the collaborative approach of the Tikaria team has been the driving force in ACC’s setting a new benchmark in these unprecedented times."

Thailand: The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved Siam Cement Group (SCG)’s planned debenture issuance. Reuters News has reported that the value of the debenture is US$926m.

US: Argos USA has announced the upcoming transition of its Roberta, Alabama, cement plant to Portland limestone cement (PLC) Type IL production. By mid-2022, the company plans to produce 100% PLC at the 1.7Mt/yr plant. Its Durham, Statesville and Wilmington cement terminals in North Carolina will also transition to the exclusive distribution of PLC. The Roberta plant will directly serve customers in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi.

Argos USA has also launched PLC production at its Harleyville, South Carolina, Newberry, Florida, and Martinsburg, West Virginia, cement plants. It aims to begin producing PLC at all of its cement plants nationally by 2024.

CEO Bill Wagner said "We are excited to announce the transition of the Roberta plant to 100% (PLC) Type IL. With this transition, we continue to support our customers and the industry on its road to lower greenhouse gas emissions. With PLC, we are supplying a more environmentally friendly building solution for our customers, engineered to deliver an outstanding quality and performance while lowering our carbon footprint.”

US: United States Lime & Minerals has announced its acquisition of Mill Creek Dolomite from InterRock Minerals. The value of the deal was US$6.4m.

Thailand: Sales from Siam Cement Group’s (SCG) cement business rose by 6% year-on-year to US$5.61bn in 2021. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 13% to US$145m. The company said that demand for cement improved gradually in the fourth quarter of 2021 following Covid-19 related shutdowns in the third quarter. Overall group sales were US$16.5bn in 2021, up by 33%, and net profit rose by 38% to US$1.4bn, boosted by the company chemicals division performance.

President and chief executive officer Roongrote Rangsiyopash said that its integration of environmental and social governance, along with a digital transformation, during the year contributed towards growth, along with a demand rise in line with the decline in Covid-19’s ongoing impacts.

Thailand: Siam City Cement's (SCC) sales, volumes and earnings picked up in the second half of 2021 following the easing of Covid-19-related lockdown measures in Thailand and Vietnam. Price rises, especially outside of Thailand, also reportedly helped to compensate for higher raw material, energy and transportation costs.

The group’s full-year consolidated sales fell slightly to US$1.28bn in 2021 from US$1.29bn in 2020. Sales revenue from its cement division rose by 3% year-on-year to US$842m but dropped by 19% to US$166m from its concrete division. Its overall earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) dropped by 6.8% to US$289m from US$310m. Net profit rose by 15.4% to US$131m from US$113m.

US: Eco Materials Technologies has finalised its US$1.05bn acquisition of Boral’s US fly ash business and launched an oversubscribed US$525m green bond issue. The issue will help it to become a global green cement production leader, according to the group. The Australian Financial Review newspaper has reported that subscriptions were four times the available bonds.