Global Cement News

Saudi Arabia: China National Building Material (CNBM) subsidiary Sinoma CDI has won a US$6m contract to upgrade cement and raw materials conveyors at Riyadh Cement Company’s Riyadh cement plant. The producer has opted for elevator conveyors for mechanical transportation, in place of its existing pneumatic conveyors. It expects this to increase energy efficiency and reduce necessary maintenance. The project is due for delivery in early 2025.

Riyadh Cement Company CEO Shoeil Al-Ayed said that the project aligns with the producer’s strategic energy reduction initiatives.

UK: Aggregate Industries has successfully removed gas duct sections from the electrostatic precipitation filter at its Cauldon cement plant in Staffordshire. This will make way for the installation of a new CTP Team process kiln bag filter, following an annual shutdown.

Cauldon plant capital expenditure manager Mark Powling said “The new bag filter not only provides the best available technology, but will enable the Cauldon plant to optimise its plant performance, driving its decarbonisation and alternative fuel strategies. Thanks to the project team for their efforts and hard work to date.”

India: ACC grew its sales to US$1.75bn in the first nine months of the 2024 financial year, up by 12% year-on-year. Its net income multiplied by a factor of five, to US$167m.

Mint News has reported that whole time director and CEO Ajay Kapur said "ACC’s financial performance has seen a complete turnaround in the last 12 months. Recent capacity additions have taken the Adani Group’s cement capacity to 77.4Mt/yr. This will enable volumes and revenues growth on a sustainable basis." Looking to the full 2024 financial year and beyond, Kapur added “Purchases of low-cost petcoke will help to further optimise fuel costs in the coming quarters."

Rwanda: South Africa-based PPC has completed the sale of its 51% stake in the Rwandan cement producer to Kenya-based Devki Group subsidiary National Cement, for US$42.5m. The divestiture advances PPC's strategic exit of Central and East Africa. As a result, the group's financial position is now cash positive. It had previously reduced its debt by 50% to US$20.3m from US$40.7m between March 2020 and September 2023.

PPC CEO Matias Cardarelli said "I am pleased with the timely completion of the sale of our stake in Cimerwa. The disposal allows us to focus on our core Southern African markets, where we see opportunities to drive improved profitability and secure a more sustainable return on capital."

Italy: Utilities provider Snam says that it has begun selecting partners for its upcoming Ravenna carbon capture and storage (CCS) transport network. The network will connect hard-to-abate industrial facilities in Ravenna with 500Mt of CO₂ storage space in the Mediterranean Sea. The total cost of infrastructure for the project is Euro350m.

CEO Stefano Venier said "The cement industry will be a central partner in this project. A partnership with Heidelberg will be announced in a few days."