Global Cement News

Asia Cement unveiled a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) unit at its Jecheon plant this week. The Korea Cement Association (KCA), government representatives and staff from other cement companies were present at a demonstration. The US$25m project has been supported by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. It was originally announced in late 2023, has been running on a pilot basis for two months, and is expected to start full operation shortly. The cement sector in South Korea will be subject to tighter emissions controls in mid-2027 and further SCR installations are expected.

Earlier in 2025 the KCA estimated that installing SCR units on all 35 active clinker production lines in the country would cost around US$675m with an additional annual running costs. One point to note here is that one of the local sector’s commonly used alternative fuels (AF), waste synthetic resin, impedes the SCR process. Subsequently, it has to be run at higher temperature, which increases running costs.

The local cement industry has faced a mixed response to its uptake of AF in recent years. One strand of this has been a movement against so-called ‘trash cement.’ This culminated in the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment amending the Waste Management Act in November 2025 to make it mandatory for cement products to disclose on the packaging the means to check which ‘waste’ materials were used in their manufacture. This appears to include both supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) and AF. The government is now intending to make it possible for citizens to check the type of cement used in newly-constructed buildings. The KCA reported that the share of blended cements (i.e. those made with SCMs) was 15% in 2024. The rate had gradually decreased over the last decade from 19% in 2015. South Korean cement producers had a AF co-processing rate of 35% in 2021. The main fuels being used in this way were waste synthetic resin, waste tires and waste rubber, with the first being used the most.

Graph 1: Cement sales in South Korea, 2019 - 2025. Source: Korea Cement Association.

Meanwhile, cement producers in South Korea have turned to exports in 2025 in response to poor construction levels and growing input costs. The KCA revealed this week to local press that exports are expected to grow by 52% year-on-year to 4.5Mt in 2025 from 3Mt in 2024. Local shipments, however, are anticipated to fall by 16.5% to 36.5Mt from 42.9Mt. Producers have focused their export strategies towards South America and Africa in response to competition in the export market in South-East Asia from China and Vietnam, producers. For example, Halla Cement started targeting Cameroon and Guinea in 2025 following previous favourite destinations such as Peru and Chile. Exports are still lower than they were in the mid-2010s. In 2015, for example, the country exported 7.3Mt of cement and clinker. However, the share of the share of exports to total sales is at its highest level for at least a decade.

The necessity of running kilns at certain levels rather than simply idling them has also emerged in recent reporting. The reason given was to “...maintain a minimum allocation of carbon emission allowances.” The detail is lacking but this may sound familiar to readers familiar with the European Union (EU) Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). Following the financial crash in 2008, for example, an over-allocation of carbon credits enabled some producers to make money despite falling demand for cement. This is not to say that the same thing is happening in South Korea. Merely, that any ETS can potentially face structural issues in a declining market.

The South Korean cement market is facing tough times, with the KCA further anticipating a decline of 1.3% in 2026. Environmental regulations such as the new emissions controls are further putting up costs. One peculiarity of the local market is the scrutiny that the easiest routes to decarbonisation, SCAs and AFs, are facing. Giving the public the tools to check this kind of information is admirable. Yet it creates extra hurdles for a sector trying to decarbonise at the same time as a construction market construction. Good luck!

The Global CemFuels Asia Conference will take place on 2 - 3 February 2026 in Bangkok

India: Shree Cement has appointed Shailesh Ambastha as its Chief Logistics Officer. He previously held the position of President - Sales for Shree Cement from late 2022. Before this Ambastha worked for ACC from 2014 to 2022 starting in a logistic role before moving to regional sales director jobs.

Uzbekistan: United Cement Group (USG) has appointed Lomanar Eduard-Alexandru as its Technical Director.

Eduard-Alexandru previously worked for Holcim from 2012 to 2025. He started as a Process Technician in 2012 in Slovakia before becoming a Process Engineer. He later held the roles of Process Performance Manager in Russia and Production Manager in Tanzania. He is a graduate in engineering from the University of Oradea in Romania.

Greece: Titan Group has appointed Kostis Dragasakis as its Group Head of Quarries for Raw Materials & ACMs. Before this he was the Group Quarries & Raw Materials Technology Manager from 2014.

UK: Cool Planet Technologies has successfully tested its third-generation carbon capture membrane module at its Grimsby site. The test validated the scalability and performance of the company’s membrane process at flow rates of up to 37,000t/yr of captured CO₂ and recovery rates of 95% CO₂. Further tests were also conducted with a lime manufacturer in for a project which will use Cool Planet’s technology to decarbonise one of its kilns. The module will now be deployed at Holcim’s Höver cement plant in Germany for a 12-month demonstration project.

Andrew Corner, CEO of Cool Planet, said “This achievement validates years of innovation and positions Cool Planet at the forefront of lower cost, scalable industrial carbon capture solutions. The UK tests not only confirmed the performance and robustness of our technology, but also significantly strengthened industry confidence in our ability to help them deliver on their global decarbonisation goals.”