India: JK Lakshmi Cement and Chettinad Cement are reportedly bidding to buy Deccan Cements. The company is hoping to obtain an enterprise value of US$360m, or US$90/t of production capacity, in any potential sale, according to the Economic Times newspaper. Deccan Cements operates a 1.8Mt/yr integrated plant at Bhavanipuram in Nalgonda, Telangana.

Canada/Netherlands: Eureka Shipping has taken possession of a new cement carrier called Tamarack from Holland Shipyards Group.

The 12,500dwt self-discharging cement carrier is designed specifically for the Great Lakes region in Canada that has been built to replace to older vessels. It is equipped with diesel-electric propulsion, featuring four generator sets, two 360-degree rudder propellers, and a bow thruster for added manoeuvrability. It also includes four dedicated cement cargo holds with a total capacity of 10,700m³, supported by high-efficiency loading and discharging systems. The Tamarack’s design includes engines capable of running on hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO). It is also prepared for shore power connectivity, enabling zero-emission operations in ports as the infrastructure evolves.

Poland: The Internal Affairs Ministry has announced sanctions on the Belarusian Cement Company (BCC). The Belarus-based company has been added to the List of Persons and Enterprises Subject to Sanctions, according to Interfax. The authorities will freeze funds connected to the company and exclude it from public procurement or tenders amongst other measures.

The government has taken this action as it believes that funds generated by BCC indirectly support serious human rights violations, repression against civil society and the democratic opposition, and its activities pose a serious threat to democracy or the rule of law in Belarus. It has also associated the company with actions that destabilise or undermine the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.

The ministry said that BCC was a ‘significant’ supplier of cement to Poland in 2021 – 2022 but that these exports decreased significantly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, it noted that that activities by the company outside of Belarus have grown since 2023 with the opening of a new subsidiary in Russia, BCK-Union Trading House, and mounting exports.

BCC has also been on the US sanctions list since late 2023. The EU imposed sanctions against cement industry as a whole in Belarus in mid-2022.

Germany: Vecoplan is investing over €5m to upgrade its manufacturing plant in Bad Marienberg. It has enlarged its Plant I by a total of 1900m² and purchased new production equipment. The engineering company is now adding assembly capacity and expanding its warehouse. Construction work on a new warehouse complex started in spring 2025 and is scheduled for completion in the second quarter of 2026.

“We are continuing to witness a high level of demand,” said Vecoplan’s CEO Werner Berens. “We’ve had to create additional space, especially in preassembly, to meet the growing need for our heavy machinery.”

Vecoplan manufactures machinery and plants for shredding, conveying and processing. It is headquartered in Germany and has subsidiaries in Austria, France, Italy, Poland, Spain, the US and the UK.