Poland: HeildelbergCement subsidiary Górażdże Group has signed a 10-year corporate Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with BayRa to buy electricity from the forthcoming Witnica solar power plant. The project is the first subsidy-free PPA-backed large-scale solar park in Poland. Due for completion in the first half of 2021, the solar park will be the largest in Poland, with a capacity of 64.6MWp.

“Here is the ultimate proof that photovoltaic power can – without any subsidies - be competitive to conventional energies, even in a European country further north, which still generates 80% of its electricity from coal,” said Benedikt Ortmann, Global Director of Solar Projects at BayWa. Andrea Grotzke, Global Director of Energy Solutions at BayWa added, “This PPA serves as an economic structure for a fixed price hedge against rising electricity costs. Securing energy from solar not only reduces a company’s CO₂ footprint. We are convinced that it also results in significant savings on the corporate energy bill.” BayWa has set the goal of constructing solar and wind projects in Poland with a total installed capacity of more than 1GW by the mid-2020s.

Spain: A regional court has ruled in favour of Cementos Cosmos in a case brought by local environmental group Bierzo Aire Limpio. The protestors alleged that the company had violated regulations at its Toral de los Vados cement plant in El Bierzo, León. The court ruled that the producer had acted correctly and in continuous communication with the administration.

Peru: Unión Andina de Cementos’ (UNACEM) income fell by 14% year-on-year to US$467m in 2020 from US$546m in 2019. Cement despatches dropped by 16% to 4.46Mt from 5.32Mt. Its profit decreased to US$8.33m from US$96m. The cement producer attributed the reduction in sales and profits due to the country’s coronavirus-related lockdown from March to May 2020. In December 2020 it agreed to buy Chile-based Cementos La Unión Chile for US$23m. The deal includes the 0.3Mt/yr San Antonio grinding plant and a concrete plant.

Brazil: Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (CSN) subsidiary CSN Cimentos began operating as an independent company on 1 February 2021. The Valor Economico newspaper has reported that the move is a preliminary to a likely future initial public offering (IPO) in the near-term although no date has been set yet. Under the same strategy, sister company CSN Mineracao is due to launch its IPO of US$1bn on 18 February 2021.

The 4.7Mt/yr-cement capacity producer operates two integrated plants and it is planning an 8.6Mt/yr expansion consisting of an upgrade to its Arcos plant and three new cement plants at Para, Parana and Sergipe respectively.

Brazil: Votorantim Cimentos is testing using dissolvable cement bags in a pilot project with paper and bag manufacturer Klabin. Following development, the new bag type will be tested in a pilot project in the south of the country based around the Rio Branco do Sul cement plant in Paraná state. The bags can be dissolved directly in a mixer when making concrete to speed up the process.

Russia: Eurocement has won a tender to supply up to 150,000t of cement to PIK Group. Its Voronezh and Mikhailovcement plants will supply CEM I and CEM II products respectively. PIK Group is one of the largest residential building companies in Russia. Eurocement said that the contract is one of the largest direct contracts it has signed and that it would ensure production in the first half of 2021.

Russia: Siberian Cement produced 4.6Mt in 2020 from its five plants, a decline of 4.7% year-on-year. Notably, its integrated Krasnoyarsk cement plant managed to increase production by 3% to 0.63Mt. Majority owned subsidiaries, Iskitimcement and Angarskcement, officially became part of Siberian Cement in mid-June 2020. The group currently reports it has a production capacity of 9Mt/yr.

Japan: Sumitomo Osaka Cement has been declared eligible for the Development Bank of Japan’s (DBJ) Environmental Rating loan program for the second time. The scheme offers preferential interest rates to companies scoring highly in environmental management based on the bank’s screening system. The cement producer says it obtained the ranking through its promotion of energy saving, waste recycling and greenhouse emission reduction targets for 2030 and 2050 in its business strategy.

Uganda: Hima Cement has introduced Kafluu, a chatbot-led initiative that lets customers order products via WhatsApp. The subsidiary of LafargeHolcim says that customers can use the platform 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to manage their orders and transactions. The automated chatbot software guides customers through the ordering process, gathering specifics like the product type, number of bags, delivery site and payment options. Payment is available via MTN MoMo Pay or bank transfer.

“We are always looking to improve the customer experience and Kafluu is able to respond quickly and effectively, enabling customers to place orders, make payments and input their delivery information with ease,” says Israel Tinkasimiire, the Hima Cement Sales Director.

The initiative is being piloted in Mbarara first before rollout in the rest of the country.

France: Mexico-based Cemex has sold 24 concrete plants and an aggregates quarry in southeast France to Switzerland-based LafargeHolcim. Finalisation of the deal is expected in April 2021 and no approval by competition bodies is required. No value for the sale has been disclosed. The group said that the divestment is part of its strategy of focused portfolio development into high-growth markets.