Cement News tagged: International
Polish cement sector to accelerate carbon capture strategy from 2025, argues Polish minister at Cemtech Europe 2024
Cemtech Europe 2024 is now underway in Warsaw, Poland, with over 300 delegates from 40 countries coming together to discuss decarbonisation of the cement industry. CEMBUREAU, the European cement association, estimates 62Mta of CO 2 will need to be captured from EU cement plants by 2050. Yet virtually none of the carbon capture systems and associated carbon transportation infrastructure is i...
Holcim plans new US$44m calcined clay processing line in Czech Republic
Holcim Cesko is set to embark on its largest investment to date with the construction of a new calcined clay processing line at its Cížkovice cement plant, worth CZK1bn (US$44m). This cutting-edge project, expected to be completed by the end of 2026, is part of Holcim’s broader decarbonisation initiative aimed at reducing energy intensity and eliminating reliance on fossil fuels. By incorpor...
Heavy fuel oil to be supplied to Egyptian cement factories
Egypt's Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources will provide heavy fuel oil to cement factories through a centralised distribution system starting today, Deputy Prime Minister for Industrial Development and Minister of Industry and Transport, Kamel El Wazir, announced. The move comes in response to demands from the Cement Division of the Building Materials Industry Chamber, which called...
Puerto Rican cement sales fall 7% in May
Puerto Rican cement sales in May 2024 declined 6.9 per cent YoY when compared with 1.3m bags of 42.6kg (94lb) or 55,380t, according to the Puerto Rican Statistics Institute. Sales had increased 7.5 per cent in April following a 17.1 per cent drop in March. In the first five months of the year, sales contracted by 4.2 per cent YoY. Production Cement production fell by 15 per cent to 31,60...
Kinshasa cement prices surge on cement shortage
A lack of supply is driving up cement prices in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. The price of a 50kg bag of grey cement has increased to XAF40,000 (US$67.91), up from XAF33,000. The Ministry of National Economy has attributed the price rise to the scarcity of the product on the capital’s market due to the strike of truck drivers serving the RN1 road from Kinshasa and Matadi. Deputy ...
Saudi cement sales exhibited growth in 2QFY24
Saudi Arabia's cement industry recorded a 1.8 per cent sales growth in the 2Q124, reaching 10.85Mt. Al-Yamama Cement 's data showed that 95 per cent of these sales were domestic, with only five per cent being exported. The data covers 17 Saudi cement companies, with Al-Yamama holding the largest share of domestic sales at 12 per cent, amounting to 1.28Mt, despite a seven per cent decline duri...
Vietnam's cement market expands 10% in August
Cement sales in Vietnam increased 10 per cent YoY to 4,922,817t in August when compared with August 2024 and remained stable when compared with July 2024, when sales reached 4,911,7272t. Of this total VICEM reported a nine per cent YoY uptick in sales to 1,497,024t while other VNCA members saw a four per cent increase to 1,035,793t. Sales of non-VNCA members were up by 14 per cent to 2,390,0...
Bangladesh cement sales drop as major construction projects shelved
Sales of cement in Bangladesh have nearly halved in the last few of months as real estate developers cancelled construction plans, while public projects were delayed because of nationwide unrest and the sudden political changeover. According to the Bangladesh Cement Manufacturers Association (BCMA), cement sales declined by over three per cent to 25Mt in the January-August 2024 period com...
Spanish cement market contracts 1% in 8M24
Cement demand in Spain slipped 1.4 per cent in the January-August 2024 period to 9,641,354t when compared with the first eight months of 2023, according to Oficemen. "Despite the decline in August, the evolution of accumulated consumption in 2024, once the figures for the two summer months have been incorporated, has improved by almost two percentage points the 3.3 per cent drop recorded in ...
Cemex revolutionises operations with AI
Cemex (Mexico) has started using MARIA (the Monitoring and Remote Assistance with Artificial Intelligence system). This system permanently, and in real time, captures critical variables of cement plants, such as temperature, oxygen levels, pressure and vibrations. MARIA knows how to use WhatsApp to send alerts and recommendations automatically to plant operators. It is also capable of usi...
Peruvian market shows stability in August
Peruvian cement dispatches in August 2024 remained stable at 1.101Mt when compared with August 2023, reports the country's cement association, Asocem. Of this total, 1.005Mt was supplied by Asocem members. Cement production edged up one per cent YoY to 1.107Mt in August 2024 from 1.011Mt in August 2023 while clinker production increased by 12 per cent YoY to 0.786Mt from 0.703Mt. Cement ex...
Cemex introduces new anti-humidity cement
Cemex introduced a new water-repellent cement product that the company hopes will extend the life of construction sites. The product is a specialised, anti-humidity cement. Ricardo Naya, president of Cemex Mexico, said, “At Cemex, we have developed a new specialty cement designed to solve one of the main problems that affects almost every construction site: dampness. Our damp-proof cement...
Indonesian cement market stable in August
Cement sales in Indonesia amounted to 6.117Mt in August. This is an increase of 0.1 per cent YoY compared to the 6.111Mt reported a year earlier. Regional sales remain a mixed bag. The strongest growth was reported in Kalimantan where the development of Indonesia’s new capital, Nusantara, is ongoing. Sales there rose 7.5 per cent YoY in August to 542,788t, up from 505,065t a year earlier. J...
JK Cement plans to invest INR30bn in capacity expansion
India-based building materials manufacturer, JK Cement , has announced plans to invest INR30bn (US$358.4m) to increase its capacity by 25 per cent, from 24Mta to 30Mta by the end of FY25-26. Nearly INR8bn of the investment has already been made, with work on the brownfield expansion in Panna, Madhya Pradesh, and the greenfield grinding unit in Buxar, Bihar, underway. At Panna, the inves...
Cement demand in Panama contracts 3% in January-July 2024
Cement consumption in Panama was down 3.1 per cent to 752,427t in the January-July 2024 period from 776,126t in the 7M23, according to INEC, Panama’s national institute of statistics and census. The drop in sales has been attributed to the slowdown in the construction sector, where private investment has decelerated. While some public works have been carried out, the segment was unable to offs...
Latin American and Caribbean cement sector targets net zero by 2050
The Federacion Interamerica del Cemento (FICEM) has opened the doors to the annual 2024 Technical Congress, a three-day conference and exhibition, taking place in the historic city of Cartagena, Colombia. FICEM Executive Director, Maria José García, welcomed over 450 delegates to the 2024 FICEM Technical Congress Opening proceedings, FICEM Executive Director, Maria José García ...