Global Cement Newsletter

Issue: GCW761 / 27 May 2026

Headlines


An updated version of the Green Cement Technology Tracker was released this week. The summary is that carbon capture utilisation and/or storage (CCUS) projects are now commercial but that less than 2% of total global emissions from the cement industry are expected to be captured by 2035. With the Global CemCCUS Conference due to take place in Hamburg in early June 2026, we take stock of what’s been happening.

The Green Cement Technology Tracker maps more than 175 projects around the world, at various stages of development, covering both carbon capture and calcined clay kilns. It is run by the Leadership Group for Industry Transition (LeadIT), an initiative that was launched by the governments of Sweden and India at the United Nations Climate Action Summit in 2019. Another perspective on this can be viewed in Global Cement’s own listing of industrial scale CCUS projects in the cement sector.

Graph 1: Total carbon capture project announcements in cement plants by year and continent. Source: Green Cement Technology Tracker/LeadIT.

Graph 1: Total carbon capture project announcements in cement plants by year and continent. Source: Green Cement Technology Tracker/LeadIT.

Two trends can be seen in Graph 1 above if we focus on CCUS. Firstly, the number of projects being announced fell to 12 in 2025 from 19 in 2024. The numbers are small but this is the first fall in the data since it started recording these schemes in 2015. Secondly, the number of projects outside of Europe outnumbered the ones from within it for the first time since 2019. Notably, the number of CCUS projects in Asia grew to seven in 2025. Aaron Maitais, the Policy Lead at LeadIT, interpreted this as follows: “…the successful delivery of first-of-a-kind large-scale projects is more significant for building confidence and unlocking future investments, rather than the number of announcements.” Analysis by LeadIT noted that both access to government finance and to CO₂ transport and storage infrastructure has proved vital for the early projects. It forecasts that around 58Mt/yr of CO2 is likely to be captured by 38 commercial-scale CCUS projects in 2035.

So far, the signs suggest that a deceleration of new CCUS projects looks set to continue in 2026. Two key projects have stalled. These are Holcim’s project at its Obourg cement plant in Belgium and Heidelberg Materials’ project at the Slite plant in Sweden. Neither of these projects has been cancelled, but their future remains uncertain. LeadIT was also anticipating the commissioning of Heidelberg Materials’ Edmonton CCS project in late 2026 but announcements on this one have been scarce although it is progressing. A presentation by the cement producer at the Global CemCCUS Conference 2025 suggested a commissioning date in 2028 instead. Smaller demonstrations such as Ash Grove Cement’s project with Carbon Upcycling at its Mississauga plant in Canada and Heidelberg Materials’ Leilac demonstration at its Ennigerloh plant in Germany are likely to start by the end of 2026.

Notably, most of those Asia-based projects flagged by LeadIT were pilots in India. This roughly fits with growing preparation for net-zero in the country such as the government issuance of emission intensity targets and the launch of a National R&D Roadmap for CCUS. The government then set aside just over US$2bn in its budget in early 2026 for investment on CCUS in hard to abate sectors, including cement. It is likely that early movers in the local cement sector are jockeying to capture some of that funding.

Co-incidentally another CCUS project was announced this week by the Thai Cement Manufacturers Association (TCMA). From July 2026 a mobile CCUS unit supplied from Canada-based Clean Energy Technologies Research Institute (CETRI) will be rotated between cement plants in the Saraburi Sandbox. The pilot is intended to validate performance under diverse operational conditions and prepare for commercial-scale deployment.

To finish, carbon capture isn’t getting any easier for the cement sector. The key problems of de-risking early large projects through government funding and connecting to CO2 infrastructure remain. As the flagship projects start to arrive, we may now face a credibility gap between government encouragement and market acceptance. Debate and information exchange on the topic at this stage now becomes more important than ever. Provided that net-zero policies remain in place, then research and deployment of CCUS by the cement sector is likely to continue. This can be seen as the projects keep coming from different parts of the world.

The 3rd Global CemCCUS Conference will take place in Hamburg, Germany on 9 - 10 June 2026.


US: CRH has appointed Danilo Juvane as its Head of Investor Relations. He will lead CRH’s investor relations function, overseeing shareholder engagement and communicating the company’s strategy and value proposition to investors. He succeeds Tom Holmes in the role, who is moving into a senior leadership role within CRH’s strategy division.

Juvane holds 25 years of experience in capital markets, having most recently worked as Vice President of Corporate Development, Investor Relations & ESG for The Williams Companies. He has also held jobs as an analyst with BMO Capital Markets, Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors and Entergy Services. He is a graduate in economics from Grinnell College and holds a master’s of business administration (MBA) qualification from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin.


Germany: Hans-Jürgen Zimmermann, the founder of INFORM, has passed away at the age of 92 years.

Zimmermann held degrees in engineering and a PhD in mathematical economics and business administration from the Technical University of Berlin. He subsequently became a professor at RWTH Aachen University and was its Chair of Operations Research from 1967 to the late 1990s. In 1969 he founded INFORM (Institute for Operations Research and Management). His goal was to demonstrate the entrepreneurial added value of intelligent algorithms as a core business activity. INFORM subsequently evolved into a prominent supplier of intelligent decision support products.

On the academic side of his career, he also became a professor at the University of Illinois and held teaching positions at various universities in India, Europe and the US. He received his first Honorary Doctorate from the Free University of Brussels and his second Honorary Doctorate from the Abo Akademi University, Finland. In 1985 he received the EURO Gold Medal, the highest distinction in Operations Research in Europe. Many other awards and accolades followed. He published over 240 papers in the areas of Operations Research, Decision Theory and Fuzzy Set Theory, 30 books in English and German in similar areas and was the editor of various journals including the International Journal for Fuzzy Sets and Systems. Notable academic society and association roles included becoming president of the German Operations Research Society and more.

INFORM says, “Prof. Zimmermann’s pioneering academic achievements were always inseparable from his humanistic values. Alongside his analytical brilliance, he was distinguished by a deeply humane and unifying spirit. As a mentor and trusted companion, he inspired, supported, and shaped the lives of countless people.” It continues, “For him, INFORM was always also a community of people working together with joy, responsibility, and trust. A family-friendly culture, mutual respect, and an awareness of the meaning of one’s work were not mere ideals to him, but convictions he lived by.”

He remained closely connected to INFORM as the main shareholder, advisor and mentor until the end.


France/Syria: Former Lafarge CEO Bruno Lafont and former deputy managing director Christian Herrault, who have been imprisoned in Paris since mid-April 2026, due to charges of financing terrorism in Syria, will be released from prison today, 27 May 2026, under ‘judicial supervision.’ Both of the men requested appeal, which is reportedly expected in a few months, according to local press. They will have spent six weeks in prison.

On 13 April 2026, the Paris Criminal Court sentenced Lafont to six years and Herrault to five, with immediate detention orders issued. On 19 May 2026, Lafont and Herrault requested their release pending a new trial.

The appeals court ruled that pre-trial detention was ‘not the essential means’ of ensuring the two men's appearance in court, and took into account the ‘shock of imprisonment’ they had reportedly suffered. As part of their judicial supervision, the court prohibited them from leaving French territory and set bail of €100,000 for Bruno Lafont and €90,000 for Christian Herrault, to be paid by 2 July 2026. The court did not forbid them from contacting each other, as requested by the public prosecutor's office, even though the two men were incarcerated in the same cell at La Santé prison. They should be released from prison by the end of 27 May 2026. Bruno Lafont's lawyer, Jacqueline Laffont, told local press that she was ‘relieved’ and ‘especially reassured when magistrates, as is the case today, apply the law.’

Bruno Lafont and Christian Herrault are among the nine defendants found guilty by the criminal court of having paid, via the Syrian subsidiary Lafarge Cement Syria, nearly €5.6m to armed jihadist groups in 2013 and 2014 in order to maintain the activity of a cement plant in Jalabiya, northern Syria. As a legal entity, Lafarge was fined the maximum amount of €1.1m, and ordered to pay jointly with four of its former executives a customs fine of €4.57m for violating international financial sanctions. All have appealed their convictions and will be retried in the coming months.


Spain: Fusion Fuel Green has announced that its subsidiary Bright Hydrogen Solutions will provide construction and operation services for a 2MW ‘green’ hydrogen production facility at a cement plant in Buñol, Spain. The facility will be built for Çimsa Cementos España under a construction agreement with Bright Hydrogen Solutions’ Spanish branch. The project aims to integrate hydrogen as an alternative fuel source in the cement production process, according to a press release statement.

Construction services will be provided by Bright Hydrogen Solutions’ Spanish-registered branch. Supply, engineering and operation services will be delivered under separate agreements involving a project company managed by Bright Hydrogen. The project will utilise Bright Hydrogen Solutions’ agency agreement with Sungrow Hydrogen, a hydrogen equipment supplier.

Frederico Figueira de Chaves, CEO of Fusion Fuel and Bright Hydrogen Solutions, said "This project represents the type of industrial application the hydrogen sector increasingly needs with real industrial demand, long-term commercial structures and integration into hard-to-abate industrial operations."


Thailand: Thai Cement Manufacturers Association (TCMA) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Chulalongkorn University to advance a strategic collaboration, with support from international partners. The partnership aims to develop and pilot carbon capture technologies in the Saraburi Sandbox project, paving the way for industrial-scale deployment and future policy development. Surachai Nimla-or, chair of TCMA, said that the collaboration reflects the proactive role of the industrial sector in advancing the country's climate commitments through a public–private partnership (PPP) model. The initiative brings together industry, academia, government and international partners, including Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA), to accelerate the transition toward a low-carbon cement industry in line with the Thailand 2050 Net Zero Cement and Concrete Roadmap.

Chana Poomee, honorary chair of TCMA and president of ASEAN Federation of Cement Manufacturers (AFCM), said “By integrating cross-sector collaboration through PPP, linking policy, technology, knowledge and workforce development to real-world implementation, this initiative will establish the foundation of a low-carbon industrial ecosystem and evolve into a system-level model that can be scaled across the region."


UK: Industrial decarbonisation company Carbon Re has announced a change in its company name to Gigaton. It said that the rebranding reflected the product it believed ‘would define the next era of industrial control.’ It said that Gigaton is a ‘self-learning control system’, that sits at the heart of plant operations, applying AI to both the control and optimisation layers to directly control actuators, explain its actions to the operator, and learn as the plant conditions change. Regarding the reason for the change to Gigaton, it said that a gigatonne is the unit climate scientists use when they talk about the scale of the change needed to affect climate change, and that the company name represents its understanding of the scale needed to achieve its mission.


Saudi Arabia: Fuller Technologies has announced a new agreement with Sinoma Nanjing to supply Qassim Cement's 10,000t/day expansion project in Buraidah, Saudi Arabia. The scope includes a new Cross-Bar cooler, a complete Ventomatic packing plant, and Pfister feeders. The company posted the news on LinkedIn, saying that it has a decades-long history with Qassim Cement and has built ‘trust through consistent delivery.’


Pakistan: Lucky Cement’s revenues were US$1.36bn in the first nine months of the 2026 financial year (FY2026), which began on 1 July 2026. This corresponds to a rise of 13% year-on-year from FY2025. Cost of sales also rose, by 19%, resulting in growth of profit after tax of 8%, to US$246m.


Latvia: Schwenk Latvija plans to invest €500m in a project to neutralise the carbon footprint of its Brocēni cement plant in Saldus by 2032. This will eliminate 800,000t/yr of CO₂ emissions, Baltic Business Daily has reported. The project is an EU Net Zero Emission Industry Act strategic project.

Latvian Minister of Economy Viktors Valainis said "Latvia is able to compete for European industrial projects and become one of the leaders in the development of green industry in the Baltics."


Saudi Arabia: Al Jouf Cement has awarded US-based Altec a six-month turnkey contract worth US$7.43m for the design, supply and installation of electrical interconnections at its Turaif cement plant in Northern Borders Province. The project will connect the plant to the electrical grid, as part of the government’s Liquid Fuel Displacement Programme to supplant oil-fired generators in industry, agriculture and utilities. In a filing to the Saudi Stock Exchange, the cement producer said that the project is scheduled for delivery in early 2027.


Tajikistan: Cement plants produced 1.55Mt of cement in the first quarter of 2026, up by 9% year-on-year. Demand is also high, amidst increased homebuilding, roadbuilding and other infrastructure projects and increased exports to Afghanistan. Reconstruction work following a mudslide in Kulob, Khatlon, on 1 May 2026 also further increased cement demand. As a result, there are widespread reported shortages. Limited supplies of cement are reportedly available in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, during morning hours. Meanwhile, builders in Khorog, Gorno-Badakhsha, have been without access to cement since April 2026.

Asia-Plus News cited industry sources that reported on-going shutdowns for maintenance at plants, including the 1.2Mt/yr Jung-Tsai Mohir cement plant in Yovon, Khatlon.


Honduras: The government has introduced a new technical standard for hydraulic cement.
The El Heraldo newspaper has reported that the standard is also accompanied by updated requirements for product labelling and registration. The Honduran Construction Industry Chamber (CHICO) denied importers’ accusations that the requirements will lead to price rises or a de facto ban on imports.

CHICO General Manager Silvio Larios said "We are asking that we work the right way — that products are sold to the specified quality, under already-established technical standards. There is a third cement producer that is participating very actively in the market and we invite them to become domestic producers."


Gabon: Morocco-based producer Ciment d'Afrique (CIMAF) will expand its industrial capacity in Gabon through a third cement production line and expansion of its clinker plant, for an investment of more than US$45m. The project was presented on 20 May 2026 in Libreville to Gabonese President Brice Clotais Oligui Nguema, by a delegation led by CIMAF CEO Anas Sefrioui.

The expansion will reportedly increase local cement production and reduce Gabon's dependence on imports. The new line will be commissioned at CIMAF's Owendo plant, near Libreville.


Canada: The Alberta Court of King's Bench has certified a class-action lawsuit against Amrize Canada (formerly Lafarge Canada), over allegations that emissions from its Exshaw cement plant have exposed nearby residents to carcinogenic dust and excessive noise. The certified class includes people who owned or lived on residential properties in Exshaw or Lac Des Arcs between 12 September 2016 and the date of certification.

The lawsuit, brought on behalf of residents and property owners in the hamlets of Exshaw and Lac Des Arcs, claims emissions from the plant have damaged residents' homes and negatively affected their quality of life. Justice C.D. Simard ruled that the claims could proceed under Alberta's Class Proceedings Act, also certifying claims seeking punitive damages. The judge directed both sides to produce a litigation plan within 45 days. The statement of claim, filed in December 2023, states that ‘huge clouds of fine powder, including particles of bottom and fly ash, dolomite, granite, gravel, gypsum, limestone, Portland cement, sandstone and shale regularly leave the cement plant.’ The plaintiffs claim that problems worsened after the plant expanded in 2016.

The plaintiffs' lawyer Adam Bordignon said "Obtaining certification is a massive step forward for this case. We believe strongly in the validity and the merits of the alleged claims, and this provides us with an opportunity now to establish those claims in court. The representative plaintiff and class members are very pleased with the outcome."


India: Dalmia Bharat's wholly owned subsidiary, Dalmia Cement (Bharat), has signed a Business Transfer Agreement with Jaiprakash Associates and Adani Infra for the acquisition of cement assets with a total capacity of 5.2Mt/yr capacity in central India. Valued at US$297m, the acquisition includes cement plants in Rewa (Madhya Pradesh), Churk, Chunar and Sadwa (Uttar Pradesh), along with 3.3Mt/yr of clinker capacity. The deal also includes 99MW of thermal power capacity and railway siding infrastructure at select locations.

Following the acquisition, Dalmia Bharat's total cement capacity will rise to 54.7Mt/yr. Expansion projects at Belgaum, Kadapa and Pune will further increase capacity to 66.7Mt/yr by the second or third quarter of the 2028 financial year. Dalmia Bharat expects the deal to complete within two weeks.


India: JSW Cement's board has approved an additional 2.5Mt/yr cement grinding unit at its greenfield integrated Nagaur plant in Rajasthan. The expansion aims to increase utilisation of the Nagaur clinker line and make the plant largely self-sufficient in cement grinding capacity. The investment of US$44m will be funded through debt and internal accruals, with commissioning expected by January 2028. The greenfield plant at Nagaur was commissioned in March 2026.


Spain: Cement consumption in Spain rose by 13% year-on-year in April 2026 to 1.45Mt, according to data from the Spanish cement association Oficemen. Accumulated consumption in the first four months of 2026 reached 5.32Mt, up by 9% year-on-year.

Rolling year data for May 2025 to April 2026 shows that consumption rose by 13% to 17.1Mt. Exports fell by 18% year-on-year in April 2026 to around 355,000t. In the first four months of 2026, exports dropped by 16% to around 1.24Mt. Between May 2025 and April 2026, exports declined by 14% to 4.25Mt.

Director general Elena Guede said that the evolution of exports does not reflect a temporary adjustment, but rather a ‘loss of momentum’ that is intensifying month by month. She said that in the year-to-date figures for the first four months of 2026, the decline has intensified’ by 1.6 percentage points, going from -14.8% in March to -16.4% in April. Guede attributed this situation to high electricity costs, which, in her opinion, are behind the loss of Spain's ‘traditional leadership’ in cement exports at the European level, where Spain has now reportedly been overtaken by Germany.


US: Amrize has announced that it will upgrade its Midlothian cement plant in Texas, modernise surrounding logistics and improve operational efficiency for its customers. The project is part of US$900m of investments being made by the company during 2026.

The Midlothian expansion project, expected to be completed in 2027, will include the addition of 0.1Mt/yr through upgrades across the plant, upgrading it from 2.0Mt/yr to 2.1Mr/yr. Two new 15,000t silos will be built, taking the total number of silos to 14, and the number of truck loading lanes will increase from six to 11. Efficiency upgrades will include the implementation of self-service truck loading technology to reduce the average truck turnaround times to approximately five minutes. Amrize will also upgrade existing silos to unlock additional usable capacity.

"Texas is one of the most dynamic construction markets in America," said Patrick Cleary, Amrize’s Senior Vice President of US Cement and Supply Chain. "This investment strengthens our ability to partner with customers advancing critical infrastructure and commercial projects across the state. By expanding capacity and significantly improving efficiency, we are enhancing reliability, safety and service for the customers and communities we serve."


Peru: Unacem Group recorded consolidated revenues of US$524m during the first quarter of 2026, a 7.1% increase compared to the same period in 2025. The company said that this was primarily driven by the performance of cement operations in Peru and Ecuador, benefiting from higher volumes and better average prices, as well as by the contribution of its cement, concrete, and aggregates businesses in Chile.


US: Cemex has been cleared to continue operating its cement plant east of Lyons, Colorado, in a reversal of a previous Boulder County decision. The plant was issued with a letter terminating its right to operate in April 2024, citing a traffic study that showed increased traffic had created a hazard and had expanded the use of the plant alongside a regional highway.

Boulder County Community Planning and Permitting Director Dale Case said at the time that Cemex was directed to stop operating because an expansion wasn't allowed under the county's land use rules. Cemex appealed the decision and was allowed to continue operating until a ruling was made on that appeal.

On 19 May 2026, Case said that Cemex had "provided satisfactory evidence that the termination determination was made in error. Specifically, the evidence shows that there was no significant increase in truck traffic to and from the property since the closure of the Dowe Flats Quarry, compared with 1994 traffic numbers.”

A press release said that the 2024 determination was based on the best information available to director Case at the time. Cemex had always argued that Boulder County should not have relied on the traffic study required by the Colorado Department of Transportation, saying that study didn't include historical traffic levels and that it used only a single day of recent data.

"The department's reliance on only one random day of data from the five decades the plant has been in operation is arbitrary and capricious, especially when viewed in light of the contrary conclusions reached after a more thorough historical evaluation," said Cemex in its response.


Armenia: The Ararat Cement Plant will soon be taken into public ownership, according to the country’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in comments made ahead of Armenia’s parliamentary elections on 7 June 2026. The 0.9Mt/yr plant is owned by Gagik Tsarukyan, leader of the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP), the country’s largest opposition party.

The Prime Minister said that the nationalisation was in response to the ‘uncovering’ of what he called ‘mafia schemes’ operated by Tsarukyan’s son-in-law Karapet Guloyan, saying "Very soon, the business backbone of PAP leader Tsarukyan, the Ararat Cement Plant, will become state-owned and will belong to the Republic of Armenia, because the mafia scheme of Guloyan has been exposed.”

Pashinyan said that the government has already received a letter from the prosecutor's office stating that this property is subject to nationalisation. The authorities will shortly appoint a manager for Ararat Cement.

"I congratulate all the employees of the Ararat Cement Plant on their release,” said the Prime Minister. “From this moment on, they no longer need to follow any instructions from Tsarukyan or Guloyan, because their employer is now the Republic of Armenia.”

The move to nationalise Ararat Cement follows a similar situation with electricity distribution licences owned by Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA), which was taken into public hands in November 2025.