Malaysia: Police reported the death of a man at a cement plant in Kinta District on 16 August 2023. The 26-year-old contractor had been cleaning hardened cement from a silo through its manhole, when he fell in and was submerged by cement. Medical staff pronounced him dead after his arrival at hospital. Perak State Occupational Safety and Health Department has issued a stop-work notice to the contractor.

Cement plants in Kinta District include Aalborg Portland Malaysia’s Aalborg Perak plant, Malayan Cement’s Kanthan plant and Tasek Cement’s Tasek cement plant.

Zimbabwe: Sino-Zimbabwe Cement reported a burglary at its Gweru cement plant on the night of 12 – 13 August 2023. The Chronicle newspaper has reported that eight robbers attacked security guards with sticks, before stealing blasting equipment from the plant’s quarry. The gang was reportedly also armed with machetes. Police investigations continue.

Uzbekistan: Uzbek six-month cement production was 5.7Mt during the first half of 2023, the Agency for Statistics of Uzbekistan has reported. The figure corresponds to growth of 10% year-on-year.

Canada: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has successfully delivered and installed a KS-21 solvent-based carbon capture pilot system at Heidelberg Materials North America’s Edmonton cement plant in Alberta. The partners will now proceed to test the technology using different fuel sources and plant operating modes. Heidelberg Materials North America says that the installation is an ‘important step’ in the CO₂MPACT carbon capture and storage (CCS) project. Once completed the project will comprise a 1Mt/yr capture installation at the plant and its integrated heat and power system. Heidelberg Materials North America expects the installation to be operational by late 2026.

Heidelberg Materials North America’s vice president cement operations, Northwest Region, Joerg Nixdorf said “Today is a substantial milestone in our journey to building the world’s first full-scale carbon capture project in the cement industry.”