Spain: Molins has recorded a 22% year-on-year rise in net profit to €184m in 2024, despite market slowdowns and political instability in some regions.

Molins’ revenues grew by 1% year-on-year to €1.37bn in 2024, as price increases offset volume declines and currency effects. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 6% to €356m, with its operations in Europe, South America and North Africa showing growth. Mexico reportedly remains its largest contributor to results. The company increased investments by 31% to €98m, with 70% going to sustainability, digitisation and efficiency improvements.

Peru: Cemento Yura has launched a premium white cement, designed to meet the increasing demand for architectural and decorative applications. The producer has a production capacity of 300,000t/yr, ensuring stable supply to domestic and export markets.

Technical manager of research and development Bruno Bertolotti said "This launch is the result of extensive research and innovation. Our goal is to provide our customers with a high-performance product that ensures unparalleled reliability and results."

Bangladesh: Chhatak Cement Factory has ceased production due to severe gas and limestone shortages, despite a modernisation project having reached 91% completion.

The Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) began a US$54.7m project to convert the plant’s production process from wet to dry in 2016, in order to increase capacity to 1500t/day (0.45Mt/yr). The project cost rose to US$116m, with US$68m spent by November 2024. However, the plant remains idle despite the completion of construction works over a year ago, due to the lack of a new gas pipeline and ropeway to import limestone from India. This ropeway was supposed to transport limestone from the Komorrah Limestone Mining Company in Meghalaya.

The project's committee has proposed extending the deadline to June 2026 and allocating an additional US$25m for a 43km gas pipeline from Sylhet to Chhatak. Trial runs are now being conducted every 15 days in order to prevent the plant’s machinery from rusting.

Project director Abdur Rahman Badsha said that the Chinese contractor responsible for the ropeway construction, Nanjing C-Hope Cement Engineering Group, is awaiting a subcontracting agreement with KLMC to begin work in India.

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."