UK: The Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) has held its Building the Sustainable Future: Pathways to Low-Carbon Cement and Concrete conference at County Hall, London, as part of London Climate Action Week on 22 June 2026.

Canada's deputy high commissioner to the UK, Robert Fry, opened proceedings with a call to new partners to join the Cement and Concrete Breakthrough coalition. The coalition is currently engaged in 11 key initiatives across 14 member countries, including upcoming UN Conference of the Parties (COP) Presidents Ethiopia and Türkiye.

Next, Cement Association of Canada president Adam Auer presented his government's strategy of decarbonisation as 'fundamentally modernisation and productivity,' and underlined the need to get policy conditions right for investment to continue to drive demand.

Panel discussions addressed scaling demand, driving the transition in developing countries and financing commercial implementation. Identified barriers included the absence of strong government policy signals, required operational adjustments and user-related difficulties for alternative cements in the bagged cement segment. Against this backdrop, panellists cited success stories ranging from a new Indian mandate for 100% fly ash utilisation and a successful collaboration of Ghanaian standards bodies with calcined clay producer CBI Ghana.

At the conclusion of proceedings, the GCCA launched its Innovandi Open Challenge 2026 accelerator for AI projects for cement and concrete manufacturing. Applicants have until 20 August 2026 to submit their application here.

Jamaica: Five additional companies have been granted approval to import cement into country as the government seeks to close a supply gap and alleviate shortages that have affected construction activity. Speaking on 18 June 2026 during a press briefing, Senator Aubyn Hill, minister of industry, investment and commerce, said the import  approvals have been granted for six months.

Jamaica Logistics International Limited was given approval to import 0.1Mt. Rock Hard Cement will import 0.1Mt. Tank-Weld Metals was given the go-ahead for 60,000t. Island Concrete will be allowed to import 60,000t and Gore Developments has been given approval to import 20,000t. Hill also noted that The Buying House Co, which has been operating as an authorised cement importer in Jamaica since 2006, was given an expanded quota of 0.15Mt.

Declaring that the "demand supply equilibrium is coming back to normal," Hill said that approved companies are currently setting up arrangements to make their imports. "We know that the supply is here to meet that demand," he said.

The current cement shortage in Jamaica was triggered by heavy rainfall and raw material issues that impacted production at Caribbean Cement’s Rockfort plant. It was further compounded by high demand for infrastructure projects in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, which affected the island in October 2025.

India: Capacity utilisation in India's cement industry is expected to remain stable at around 70 - 71% in the 2027 Fiscal Year (FY2027), the 12 months to 31 March 2027,  according to a new report from Equirus Securities. While the cement industry is estimated to have grown around 6.5 - 7.5% in FY2026 and demand is expected to grow around 5% in FY2027, the pace of capacity creation is expected to keep utilisation levels broadly stable across the sector.

Industry capacity additions are projected to be 42 - 44Mt/yr in FY2027, following 50 - 55Mt/yr in FY2026. The report notes that demand remained resilient during FY2026, driven by robust construction activity, especially post-monsoon in the second half of the year, supported by sustained momentum across housing and infrastructure segments. India’s cement sector continues to benefit from rapid urbanisation, increasing housing demand and government-led investments in roads, metro rail projects, industrial corridors, ports and other infrastructure projects.

Switzerland/Germany: Cement producer Holcim has announced that it has completed it €1.85bn acquisition of German building materials maker Xella, expanding its building solutions portfolio. Based in Duisburg, Xella is present in 22 European markets and is expected to generate net sales of €1bn in 2026. The transaction should result in synergies of €60m realised in the third year.

Via the deal, Holcim now obtains brands for both the new-build and the energy-efficient repair and refurbishment market. These include prefabricated Ytong and Hebel autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) modular systems, Silka calcium silicate elements, and Multipor mineral insulation.