In January 2024, Thailand's cement manufactures produced 2.776 Mt of cement, which is still -3.4% below January last year, but this is a lower decline than in the last two years. Thailand's economy and construction output is expected to grow with +2.8% this year.

Heidelberg Materials intends to equip the recently modernized Antoing plant of its Belgian subsidiary (known as CBR) with an innovative hybrid carbon capture unit. The Anthemis CCS project, established in January 2023, shall reduce the CO2 emission by 97%, equivalent to 0.8 Mta when operational in 2028/29 and will use the innovative second-generation OxyCal concept that combines established Oxyfuel and Amine capture technology in a hybrid unit. The captured CO2 from the Antoing plant is transported by pipeline. Belgium partner Fluxys is responsible for the connection to a large CO2 transportation network from Tournai to Zeebrugge and Ghent for carbon storage in the North Sea.

Colombia's local cement dispatch has been this January with 0.891 Mt-4.2% lower than in January last year with 0.930 Mt. This is now the 3rd year that the January dispatch is declining.

Colombia started into the new year with a minus of -4,4% in the cement production with 1.001 Mt after 1.048 Mt in January 2023. The minus is the result of a lower cement demand in January.

Schwenk Zement contracted thyssenkrupp Polysius to build a demonstration plant for the production of meca-clay in the Allmendingen cement plant in Germany. Meca-clay can be produced without the conventional clay calcination (we reported here 15.12.2023). The process uses all-electric technology and is based on mechanochemical activation, which is also used by Schwenk for the production of their ‘green’ Celitement. Up to 70% of thermal CO2 emissions from drying and clay calcination can be avoided - an important step towards climate neutrality in the building materials industry. The construction of the demonstration-scale plant (photo: plant illustration by Polysius) will start soon. Plant capacity and time schedule have not been released.

CIMAF Gabon, which is part of the Moroccan CIMAF Group, plans to build a 0.9 Mta kiln line in Meba, 15km located from the town of Ntoum. The project had already been announced in September 2022. CIMAF operates two grinding mills in Gabon with a combined capacity of 0.85 Mta cement, while grinding imported clinker. The new kiln line shall be built for a budget of 89 billion CFA francs (US$ 147 m), create 500 jobs and is planned to eliminate almost all imported clinker. The plant will be operational probably within 2026.

In February, EU carbon credits reached a level of less than 60 € / EU ETS allowance, due to a downturn from the auctions (Chart 28.02.24: Intercontinental Exchange). Important carbon credit buyers, such as Shell, Nestlé and EasyJet recently retreated from carbon offset schemes. This withdrawal is partly a reaction of growing scepticism about the effectiveness of these projects, with concerns about actual climate benefits and accusations of greenwashing. Anyhow, for the cement industry nothing has changed, due to the existing free carbon allowances and the shift of the major cement producers to invest into CCS projects beside the ongoing trend to further cut emissions with conventional measures.