US: CalPortland has been awarded the 2018 Energy Star Partner of the Year - Sustained Excellence by the Environment Protection Agency (EPA). It received the award for its commitment to high-level leadership in energy management throughout the company.

Key 2017 accomplishments for the award include: reaching a 16% improvement in 2017 from a baseline year of 2003 for cumulative savings of US$109m; promoting energy management across the US cement industry through the chief executive officer’s leadership of the trade association and an offer of the company’s assistance to others in the industry; earning EPA’s Energy Star plant certification for two cement plants where one was recently purchased and required extensive upgrades and energy improvements to qualify in less than two years; expanding energy management into its fleet of ready mix concrete trucks by 118 units that run on compressed natural gas; continuing to invest in operations through new plant hardware such as a high efficiency separator for a mill, efficient new equipment to improve raw feed processing, and computational fluid dynamic software to better manage process air and material flows; developing innovative methods for training employees and motivating them to manage energy in their work; and outreaching to inform employees, over 106,000 community members and schools, competitors, and others on how they can manage energy and use Energy Star to save.

The latest award is the 14th consecutive recognition, from 2005 to 2018, by US EPA Energy Star for CalPortland.

China: Hong Kong based CK Infrastructure Holdings (CKI) has acquired a 1Mt/yr cement grinding station and three quay berths in Yunfu City, Guangdong, for an investment of US$28.5m. The three berths can handle 3Mt/yr.

The group said it hopes to expand its infrastructure investment portfolio in mainland China. "The acquisition is deemed to be another robust investment with stable returns for CKI," it said in a statement, explaining that demand for cement has been growing on the mainland. "The acquisition of the jetty further realises the vertical integrated production of cement, brings about competitive advantages, and enhances operation efficiency," the statement added.

India: Votorantim Cimentos is rumoured to be selling its 75% stake in Gujarat-based Shree Digvijay Cement as part of its strategy to prioritise assets and reduce debt, according to ‘sources close to the company.’

The news comes as the company struggles amid rising competition among mid-sized Indian cement producers. It made a net profit of US$2.0m in the 12 months to 31 March 2018 from a turnover of US$63.5m. In 2012, before Votorantim took over the company, it made a net profit of US$1.2m from a turnover of US$64.2m.

Peru: Cementos Pacasmayo has seen its sales volumes of cement, concrete and blocks rise by 7.8% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2018, primarily due to increased sales volume of cement to the public sector and the self-construction segment. Its revenues increased by 12.8%, also due to higher cement sales, as well as an average cement price increase.

Cementos Pacasmayo’s net income was US$9.22m, a 37.3% increase, mainly due to higher sales and operating profit. Consolidated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were US$29.2m.