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.

Russia's cement production started in the new year with a decline by -1.3% to 2.571 Mt, after 2.605 Mt in January 2023. However the January cement production is always a result of the weather conditions in the country.

Scheuch, who is based in Upper Austria, develops and supplies a portfolio of solutions for flue-gas cleaning, included carbon-capture technologies. The company is currently working intensively on the implementation of various CO2 capture projects for industrial clients. For the cement industry this includes adsorption technology based on fluidized bed and fixed bed processes and the absorptive caption of CO2 by means of amine scrubbing. Scheuch has a great range of expertise and found that removal of pollutants is crucial for effective reduction of CO2 emissions.

After years of impressive growth the cement production in Kenya declined in 2023. According to preliminary data 9.516 Mta have been produced in 2023 after 9.754 Mta in 2022, corresponding to a -2.4% YoY decline. The cement capacity utilization declined to 62.2%.