Zimbabwe: South Africa-based PPC’s sale of a property in Arlington, near Harare, has fallen through after the prospective buyer failed to pay $30m by the agreed deadline of 30 June 2026. This frustrates the producer’s plans to divest its non-core assets. PPC was attempting to sell the properly to Transvaal Africa through its 88% subsidiary PPC Zimbabwe.

The deal previously showed ‘signs of strain’ in February 2026, when PPC told shareholders it had agreed with the buyer to push back the deadline to the end of June 2026 as ‘administrative matters had delayed the meeting of certain milestones.’

PPC Zimbabwe regained ownership of the Arlington property in December 2024, following its seizure by the Zimbabwean government in 2010.

Indonesia/Germany: Heidelberg Materials is facing local protests against a planned cement plant and limestone quarry in Central Java. Locals say that the company failed to properly assess and mitigate the potential harms of its plans in the Kendeng Mountains. They say the project may damage a rare karst ecosystem and harm the livelihoods of Indigenous people in the area. An official complaint to the German Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control against Heidelberg Materials and Indocement is Indonesia's first to be filed under Germany's new supply chain law, which is designed to ensure that human rights are respected throughout the supply chains of German companies.

“If the project is implemented, we face an ecological catastrophe, impoverishment and violations of our human rights,” said Bambang Sutikyo, one of the complainants.

Heidelberg Materials said that affected communities had had the opportunity to voice concerns to the company's local subsidiary PT Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa during the project's permitting process and that feedback was reflected in the project planning. She added that “No decision on the implementation of the project has been taken.”

Burkina Faso: The government has established Cim-Sahel, a 60% state-owned private-public partnership endowed with capital of US$9m. According to Trade Minister Serge Gnaniodem Poda, the company will guarantee the availability of cement throughout the country, curb speculation by enforcing reasonable prices and support the rapid pace of public and private infrastructure projects.

India: 1200 protestors, including workers, residents, social activists and trade union members, marched to the West Singhbhum Deputy Commissioner’s office in Chaibasa, Jharkhand, on 1 July 2026 to demand government action against the closure of ACC’s cement plant at Jhinkpani. The plant is slated to close its gates for the final time on 16 August 2026. The company has cited depletion of limestone reserves, rising clinker production costs and the ‘ageing, inefficient’ state of the the plant as causing it to become uneconomic to operate.

The Jhinkpani plant has been gradually winding down operations over the past few months. Cement production was suspended on 1 April 2026, after clinker supplies from the company’s Bargarh and Sindri units ended on 31 March 2026. Production halted completely on 3 May 2026, when the plant’s 15MW captive power plant also shut down.

“The closure of the cement plant will spell doom for Chaibasa, which has largely depended on its successful operation,” said local social worker Ramesh Balmuchu. An employee, Birbal Gope, said the shutdown will directly impact nearly 1500 workers, including 74 permanent staff. He estimated that 50,000 people depend directly or indirectly on the plant for livelihood.

Workers and residents announced plans for a march to the Jharkhand state government building in Ranchi in August 2026 in a further appeal to prevent the plant’s closure.