Pakistan: Fecto Cement has resumed full operations at its Sangjani cement plant in Islamabad following a ruling by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) that deemed the previous suspension of activities ‘illegal and without lawful authority.’ The company confirmed the development in a notice to the Pakistan Stock Exchange, stating that full plant operations had resumed, and that production has recommenced as normal. Fecto Cement said that the suspension ‘had no material adverse effect’ on its long-term financial position or operations.

UK: First Graphene has announced the successful large-scale production of around 600t of graphene-enhanced cement at Breedon’s Hope Cement Works in Derbyshire ahead of new trial projects rolling out across the UK. The batch contains 3t of First Graphene’s PureGRAPH-CEM® additive, and was produced in a single day. The product is now in storage ahead of despatch for use in three concrete projects across the UK. The University of Manchester will conduct compressive strength testing and analysis of the concrete’s performance.  The additive is introduced during the final milling stage, and is designed to reduce CO₂ emissions by up to 16% by lowering the clinker content in the cement.

The first trial involves using 30-40t of the graphene-enhanced cement to produce thousands of roof tiles at FP McCann’s Cadeby plant in Leicestershire. The five-month study is part of an Innovate UK-funded initiative aiming to improve resource efficiency and reduce construction waste in response to the UK government’s housing targets. First Graphene has also reportedly received further interest from organisations in both the UK and Australia for testing the material in various applications.

First Graphene CEO Michael Bell said “Adding graphene into cement has proven to deliver performance benefits for a wide range of applications, and multiple end uses of this cement batch reinforces PureGRAPH®'s versatility. We look forward to working closely with our strategic commercial partner Breedon, Morgan Sindall, FP McCann and the University of Manchester as application trials roll out over the coming months."

Brazil: Cimento Nacional, part of Buzzi, has selected Fuller Technologies to supply a second ball mill and separator system for its Pitimibu plant, replicating the equipment successfully installed in 2013. The original setup was a UMS 5.0 x 17 ball mill combined with an O-SEPA® N4500 separator, which has operated reliably for over a decade, according to the company. The company has now ordered an updated version of the system. The new package includes a next-generation O-SEPA® separator with a fine drive for increased rotation speed and high-Blaine cement output, and a high-efficiency air seal designed to reduce coarse bypass and improve final cement quality.

US: A new finish mill has officially been commissioned at the Durkee cement plant. The facility held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the occasion. The upgrade will increase the plant’s cement production capacity by 210,000t/yr without increasing clinker production or associated CO₂ emissions. The company said the new finish mill enhances its ability to deliver consistent, high-performance cement.