Mexico: Cemex has concluded the sale of subordinated notes with a value of US$1.0bn. The company says that it will use the proceeds from the bonds sale for various purposes, including debt repayment.

Chief financial officer Maher Al-Haffar said, “The purpose of this transaction is to further Cemex in its pursuit of an investment grade capital structure and a commensurate leverage ratio.”

Israel/ Palestine: Israel has reportedly asked Egypt to block imports of cement and other building materials into Gaza, according to the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation. The move is intended to stop militant groups in the territory using the materials. It follows a ceasefire between the Israeli government and the Palestinian militant group Hamas in late May 2021 after nearly two weeks of fighting. So far, cement and other building materials have been entering Gaza unimpeded via Egypt.

Switzerland/US: LafargeHolcim and GE Renewable Energy have signed a memorandum of understanding to research new ways to recycle of used wind turbines. The partners are seeking to use the shredded blades to produce low-CO₂ building materials. LafargeHolcim said that undertaking builds on the work of its subsidiary Geocycle, which previously began using GE’s waste wind turbine blades to produce alternative fuel (AF) for cement production. The cement producer called recycling the ‘key next step’ in line with the Circular Economy Action Plan of the European Union’s European Green Deal.

UK: SigmaRoc intends to offer a cement-free alternative for every product in its precast concrete portfolio from January 2022. The producer claims it is the only company to do this. The change will effect products made by its Product Group including Allen Concrete, CCP Building Products and Poundfield Precast. The move follows the launch of its Ordinary Portland Cement free Greenbloc product in February 2021.

Managing director Michael Roddy said, “Greenbloc sets the bar for bringing a cement-free alternative to a traditional building material into mainstream use, but it was only ever the start of our low-carbon journey.” He added “The benefits of using cement as a building material are undisputed from an application perspective, however the carbon required in the manufacturing process cannot be ignored. Our aim is simple. The market is changing and understands the need to acknowledge, address and action a tangible approach to decarbonisation. We want to give architects, contractors and specifiers the choice of using an ultra-low carbon cement-free alternative to precast cementitious products.”

Canada: Testing specialist Giatec has launched SmartMix, a web-based software product for concrete ingredient optimisation. It is intended to help concrete users lower their cement construction for jobs. The supplier estimates that the tool could lower the CO₂ emissions of concrete production by 400Mt/yr, the equivalent carbon footprint of 110m cars.

Head of research and development Andrew Fahim said, “Artificial intelligence (AI), machine-learning algorithms and advanced analytics on construction jobsites are going to pave the path forward for our industry to meet increasing infrastructure demands. I am proud to provide contractors and producers AI tools to make impactful decisions and get ahead of the competition by bringing more value to their customers while reducing the carbon impact of their products.”

Little trickles of detail about the European Union’s (EU) proposed carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) started to emerge last week. The key bit of information that Bloomberg managed to squeeze out of their source was that a transition period with a simplified system is being considered from 2023 and then a full version could turn up in 2026. Cement importers, and those in selected other heavy industries, would be required to buy electronic emission certificates at prices corresponding to those in the EU emissions trading scheme (ETS). Other titbits include: that the prices will be set on a weekly basis based on the average carbon permit price within the EU that week; a default value will be devised for importers who can’t back up their emissions data; and imports from a country with its own carbon pricing scheme will be entitled to a discount. The plans are due to be made public in mid-July 2021. Debate is then expected to follow before approval will be required from the European Parliament and member states.

The detail isn’t out there yet but the CBAM is set to collide with trade agreement territory. For example, how the draft agreement tackles issues such as exports from Europe and whether importers should be compensated for not receiving a free allocation of carbon credits could be seen to offer competitive advantage to one party or another. Climate policy will clash with trade policy once or if the CBAM makes in into law. At this point countries that import cement into the EU may start trying to negotiate or complaining to the World Trade Organisation. One previous example of climate policy bashing into trade agreements is when the EU tried and failed to apply the ETS to aviation in the early 2010s. The experience from this incident is expected to inform the European Commission’s approach on the CBAM.

Outside the EU, new carbon pricing schemes have been popping up all over the place and various cement associations are creating or refining their own carbon neutral plans. Last week in North America, for example, the Cement Association of Canada said it was working with the government on launching a roadmap by the end of 2021. In the US, the Portland Cement Association (PCA) has also been hard at work to publish its own roadmap by the end of 2021. Meanwhile, over in the oil sector there were a couple of victories for activist shareholders in May 2021 with Shell, Exxon Mobil and Chevron all being forced to make changes to their climate change polices by courts and activist investors. This makes one wonder how long it will be before the same thing happens to cement companies.

All this increases the pressure between trading agreements and climate legislation. One of the questions that has popped up at Global Cement’s webinar series has been whether attendees thought that a global carbon pricing and/or trading scheme might be a realistic position or not (the majority said ‘yes’ within 20 years). Yet the EU CBAM, all these sustainability plans and continued pressure by investor activist don’t happen in isolation. They occur in an interconnected world.

So it was both non-surprising and eye-popping to discover recently that a private carbon exchange is being prepared in Singapore for a launch by the end of 2021. Climate Impact X (CIX) is being backed by DBS Bank, Singapore Exchange, Standard Chartered and the Singapore-government owned investment company Temasek. As for which companies would actually voluntarily enter into a scheme that would actively reduce profits, the answer lies above. Any organisation looking to trade between carbon pricing jurisdictions might well have an economic incentive to find a truly international scheme that was reputable. Or, perhaps, a publicly owned company dealing in carbon-intensive products might be bullied into one by its activist investors. The focus on such an exchange being reputable is essential here, given the potentially large amounts of money that could be involved and the mixed views on existing carbon offsetting schemes. CIX says it will use satellite monitoring, machine learning and blockchain technology to ensure the integrity of its carbon credits and this is certainly thinking in the right direction. Until it arrives though, we wait to see the detail on the EU CBAM.

India/US: Mahendra Singhi, the head of India-based Dalmia Cement (Bharat), has been invited to represent the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition (CPLC) as Carbon Pricing Champion. He will work with Feike Sijbesma, Honorary Chair of Board of Royal DSM to devise carbon pricing strategies for the Asia-Pacific region

The CPLC is a global coalition promoted by the World Bank Group. It is represented by 34 national and sub-national governments, 172 private sector organizations 100 strategic partners non government organisations, business organisations, and universities. The voluntary initiative aims to accelerate climate change mitigation by securing the place of carbon pricing on the global agenda.

UK: Aggregate Industries has appointed Kirstin McCarthy as its sustainability director as part of its executive committee. She will be responsible for the company’s ambitions to become a leading sustainable business and net-zero company. McCarthy brings over 20 years’ experience in environmental management to the role. Prior to joining the subsidiary of Switzerland-based Lafarge-Holcim business, she was Head of Sustainability at Birmingham Airport for more than six years.

Italy: Zoomlion Europe has appointed Petre Babiceanu as its general manager. He will be responsible for the development of the company’s forklift, aerial work platform, tower and mobile crane business lines, as well as for the operational coordination of the company’s production plant in Italy.

Babiceanu holds over 20 years in senior management roles. His first post at Terra Holding was as Country Manager, when he was responsible for setting up the group's business in Romania. He later acted as South-East Regional Director and then as Group General Manager for Lifting Machinery, overseeing the development and distribution of various brands in the construction sector and starting a new lifting division. He holds a master's degree in civil engineering from the Technical University of Civil Engineering of Bucharest.

China-based Zoomlion established its European subsidiary in 2018 as a regional hub for the production and distribution of its branded product lines.

Russia: Mikhailovsky Building Material Works (Mikhailovsky KSM), part of Smikom Group, has received conditional approval to acquire Eurocement. Interfax has reported that the Federal Antimonopoly Service made its approval on a number of conditions including the requirement that Mikhailovsky KSM submits to it a quarterly performance report. If prices rise by more than 5% in a month then the company will be required to explain why to the regulator. The producer will also be obliged to fulfil any existing contracts and preserve the technological capability of its production base.

Eurocement currently holds a 35% market share in Central district, the region where Mikhailovsky KSM produces its building materials.