France: Vicat’s VAIA (Vicat Advanced Industrial Alliance) carbon capture project has been selected for funding under the EU Innovation Fund 2024 programme, receiving a grant of €150m. The project will be developed at the Montalieu-Vercieu cement plant in Isère and aims to capture and store ‘nearly all’ CO₂ emissions from the facility, equivalent to around 1.2Mt/yr of CO₂. According to Vicat, the plant is the largest cement production site in France by capacity. The VAIA project also includes the development of a broader CO₂ value chain in the Rhône Valley capable of handling up to 4Mt/yr of CO₂, covering capture, transport, utilisation, liquefaction and storage.

Studies for the project are currently ongoing and a final investment decision is expected in 2027. The project is also supported by the French government under the Major Industrial Decarbonisation Projects initiative announced in February 2026.

Philippines: DAL Engineering recently completed a cyclone modification project at CRH’s cement plant in Bulacan, covering full engineering scope from design through to on-site technical supervision, according to a post by the supplier on Linkedin. The work focused on upgrading the preheater top cyclone to improve pyro-process efficiency and operational stability. The company said that execution involved close coordination with the plant's operations team to minimise downtime and work within the constraints of the existing infrastructure.

On-site supervision covered the full installation sequence: dismantling of the existing cyclone; new unit installation; riser duct modifications; welding; geometric alignment; and structural adjustments as conditions required. DAL said that the upgraded system has since achieved stable operation.

Saudi Arabia: Southern Province Cement reported a net loss of US$13m for the year ending 31 December 2025, compared to a net profit of US$51m in 2024. The company also reported an operating loss of US$11m in 2025, compared to an operating profit of US$60.5m in the previous year. Southern Province Cement attributed the decline in profitability to lower revenues and higher cost of sales, driven by increased input costs and lower utilisation rates of production lines. Additional factors included inventory adjustments related to raw materials, as well as the impact of revised depreciation for assets linked to old production lines at the Jazan cement plant, which were replaced by a new production line.

India: The ongoing conflict in the Middle East is expected to increase cement production costs in India as rising imported fuel prices impact the sector, according to The Financial Express. Prices of imported petcoke and coal have already increased by 11% and 7% respectively since the start of the conflict, with further volatility expected. India relies heavily on imported petcoke, with around 50% coming from the US and about 30% from West Asian countries.

Producers are expected to increase the use of domestic fuels to offset higher import costs. Refiners are also increasingly focusing on gas production, which could limit the availability of refinery byproducts such as petcoke – cement companies are reportedly in conversation with refineries to tackle the issue.