Global Cement News

China: China Tianrui Group Cement has appointed Li Liufa as its chair. He succeeds Li Xuanyu in the role, who has resigned due to “other work commitments.”

Li Liufa is the founder of Tianrui Group. He has been a non-executive director of China Tianrui Group Cement since 2011 and became a member of its nomination committee in 2018. He is responsible for our group’s overall strategic planning and the management of its business. Li was the head of Shanshui Cement from 2015 to 2018. He has also held representative positions for Henan province to the National People’s Congress on a number of occasions between 2003 to 2018. Li holds an executive master of business administration from Peking University. Li Liufa is the father of Li Xuanyu.

Thailand: The ASEAN Federation of Cement Manufacturers (AFCM) has elected Chana Poomee as its president for a two year term from 2025 to 2027. He succeeds Yeoh Soo Keng in the role. Poomee has been the chair of the Thai Cement Manufacturers Association (TCMA) since 2022 and was re-elected in 2024 until 2026. He is also the chief sustainability officer of Siam Cement Group (SCG).

US: Heidelberg Materials North America has begun test well drilling at its Mitchell cement plant in Indiana as part of the CarbonSAFE carbon capture and storage (CCS) project led by the Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS).

The drilling started on 22 January 2025 to assess the geology beneath the plant, which is located in the Illinois Basin, for CO₂ storage potential. The test will evaluate three carbon storage formations to a depth of 2210m to determine if the site can safely store 50Mt of CO₂ over 30 years.

The project began in early 2023 with seismic data collection across 87km of roadways, leading to the installation of the geologic test well.

Greg Ronczka, vice president of Carbon Transport & Storage Development said "This is an exciting step for the project as we learn which potential formations may be suitable to permanently and safely store the CO₂. This knowledge will help us design the injection and observation well network and allow us to prepare a complete and accurate US Environmental Protection Agency Class VI permit application."

India: Star Cement will build a US$367m integrated cement plant in Assam.

The producer signed a memorandum of understanding with the state government on 26 February 2025, the final day of the Advantage Assam business summit. The summit attracted 164 investment proposals across 15 sectors on its opening day.

India: UltraTech Cement's board has approved the separation of Kesoram Industries' cement business, effective from 1 March 2025. Under this plan, Kesoram Industries cement business will join UltraTech Cement.

The producer will issue one equity share of US$0.11 for every 52 Kesoram Industries shares. The merger will increase UltraTech Cement's production capacity by 7Mt/yr. The companies' boards first approved the merger on 30 November 2023, with the demerger previously scheduled for November 2024.