Pakistan: Cherat Cement’s board of directors has approved plans for a US$215m integrated cement plant at Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber Pakthunkhwa. The company has already invested US$8.24m in acquiring land and leases for the plant. When commissioned in mid-2024, it will have a capacity of 11,000t/day.

Mexico: Cemex has launched a new brace of CO₂ emissions reduction targets. The group is now targeting CO₂ emissions below 475kg/t of cement and 165kg/m3 of concrete by 2030. These represent decreases of 40% and 35% respectively compared to 1990 levels. The group plans to invest US$60m/yr in efforts to meet its 2030 targets. It had previously targeted CO₂ emissions below 520kg/t of cement by 2030. It now aims to achieve the previous target by 2025. The group says it intends to reach the new targets through the use of alternative fuels with high biomass content, hydrogen injection, low temperature and low CO₂ clinker, decarbonated raw materials, optimisation of the kilns’ heat consumption and the reduction of clinker factor through the higher utilisation of blended cements in the market.

Chief executive officer Fernando Gonzalez said, “Climate action is the biggest challenge of our times, and Cemex is taking decisive action to address it. We commit to continue leading the industry in climate action.”

Europe: The European cement producers’ association Cembureau says that a possible reduction of European Union (EU) Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) free allowances would endanger cement producers’ investment decisions and projects. It says that this in turn might produce competition distortions with third parties. The EU is planning to implement a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) but the association is concerned that its ‘Fit for 55’ 55% CO₂ emissions reduction target for 2030 may have negative implications for the cement industry. However, the association said that it supported the concept of a CBAM.

Cembureau has called for a transition period until 2030 whereby free allocation under the EU ETS will continue fully alongside the introduction of the CBAM. It added that this is compatible with World Trade Organisation rules and avoids any form of ‘double protection’ provided the free allocation is taken into account when calculating the levy paid by any third-party importers. It further stated that the CBAM must cover both direct and indirect emissions. It has also continued to press the legislators to provide for a CO2 charge exemption for EU exporters to third countries, if the country in question is not covered by an equivalent carbon pricing mechanism. The association asked the EU to consider implementing secondary legislation before any CBAM enters force, and to ensure consistency of ‘Fit for 55’ legislative initiatives, applied across a sufficient breadth of sectors to preclude market distortions.

UK: The UK government has announced Euro58.2m-worth of funding to support infrastructure spending, targeting innovation and technology projects. This will include a scoping study into developing a CO₂ storage testbed that will look at carbon capture and storage on an industrial scale. Other projects include a new radio telescope network, laboratories and Euro18.8m-worth of new digital research infrastructure. The government says that the new infrastructure aims to provide ‘strategic direction’ in the use of science and technology to overcome societal challenges and increase global prosperity. It said that the upgrade will secure the UK’s position as a ‘science superpower’ globally.

Israel: Archaeologists have identified a new precursor species of humans dated to 130,000 years ago among discoveries from a quarry run by Nesher-Israel Cement Enterprises site at Ramla. Called Homo Nesher Ramla, the species’ antiquity and proximity to Homo Neanderthalensis suggest it as a possible ancestor of Neanderthals, according to Reuters. This would contradict previous theories of European origins of our sister species. Researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University say that Homo Nesher Ramla may have lived alongside Homo Sapiens for hundreds of years at the important junction of Africa and Eurasia now occupied by modern Israel, and could have interbred with our own ancestors.

Fiji: The Fijian Competition and Consumer Commission has issued a price control order for cement with effect from 22 June 2021. It applies to the ex-factory, wholesale and retail supply of cement products in all qualities, quantities, grades and classes, according to the Fiji Times newspaper.

Guyana: Vas Energy subsidiary Georgetown Cement Company has broken ground on construction of its upcoming La Resource, Essequibo Coast cement plant. The Guyana Chronicle newspaper has reported that the company plans to spend US$100m in establishing the plant.  When commissioned in mid-2022, it will supply all of Guyana with the possibility of export to neighbouring countries. This will reduce the cost of imported cement by 30%. Georgetown Cement Company plans to employ 180 – 200 people at the plant.

India: NCL Industries is planning to expand its 2.7Mt/yr Mattapalli plant in Suryapet district, Telangana, to 3.6Mt/yr capacity at a cost of US$13.5m. The work includes the installation of vertical roller mills to replace the plant’s ball mills. Times of India newspaper has reported that the company says that it will complete the expansion by 2022.

Its plan also involves the establishment of a new 660,000t/yr grinding plant at nearby Anakapalle, at a cost of US$26.9m. The producer will invest a further US$810,000 in setting up three new ready-mix concrete plants in Hyderabad and Vizag, bringing its total number of concrete plants in the state to eight.

Mexico: Holcim subsidiary Holcim Mexico has inaugurated its new 650,000t/yr cement grinding plant at Umán in Yucatán. The cost of the project was US$40m. The plant will receive clinker from its integrated plants at Macuspana in Tabasco, and Orizaba in Veracruz. The producer says that the plant will optimise delivery times for cement customers in the area. It says that it will create 400 local jobs.

General director Jaime Hill Tinoco said, “At Holcim we are very proud to continue growing with the community, as well as to continue promoting well-being in the region through the creation of direct jobs, infrastructure and investment with this new grinding plant that, as I pointed out on the day that the first stone was laid, will strengthen national and foreign investments in benefit of the growth of the region.”

Vietnam: State-owned Vicem produced 10.5Mt of cement in the first five months of 2021, an increase of 9% year-on-year. Total cement and clinker sales rose in the period by 8% to 12.8Mt, according to the Viet Nam News newspaper. The company is targeting 26Mt-worth of cement production in 2021, up by 8% year-on-year.