Global Concrete News

Kuwait: Kuwait Portland Cement has won a contract with China Gezhouba Group to supply ready-mix concrete for a housing development in Saad Al-Abdullah City. Reuters has reported that the project will take four years and cost US$117m.

Russia: Belarus-based Belarusian Cement Company plans to establish a building materials production and logistics hub in Moscow. Among other materials, the hub will produce dry mixes using cement imported from Belarus, as well as producing ready-mix concrete, autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) blocks and reinforced concrete goods. Business World News has reported that the facility will be equipped with rail and road terminals.

Belarusian Cement Company said "The creation of this facility will secure permanent availability of Belarusian Cement Company products directly in the sales region and will enable more advantageous logistic conditions for Russian partners. Belarusian Cement Company will be able to significantly expand its capabilities for delivering products to consumers that have no access to the railway grid and will be able to introduce a more convenient and accessible level of client service."

Germany: An activist or activists have claimed responsibility for starting a fire that engulfed five trucks, multiple cement silos and part of a building at a Cemex Deutschland ready-mix concrete batching plant in Kreuzberg, Berlin, Zeit Online News has reported.

In a statement posted on news website Indymedia DE, the purported culprit(s) claimed that they targeted the plant for its involvement in supplying concrete for the A100 road expansion project in Berlin. Additionally, the statement alleged that Cemex has supplied concrete for illegal Israeli military checkpoints in Palestine, for which reason the self-proclaimed arsonists chose to target the group’s German subsidiary.

Canada: Carbon-negative concrete producer CarbiCrete has signed a deal with Holcim subsidiary Lafarge Canada. Under the deal, Lafarge Canada will process steel slag at its St. Constant cement plant in Québec for use as an ingredient in CarbiCrete’s CO₂-cured cement-free concrete.

CarbiCrete partner Patio Drummond produces carbon-negative concrete blocks using CarbiCrete’s technology at its Drummondville concrete block plant in Québec. The company is on a drive to double the production of CarbiCrete blocks. It first partnered with CarbiCrete during trial production of its material in 2018.

Lafarge Canada vice-president of cement Andrew Stewart said “We are committed to reducing our environmental footprint and leading the way in sustainable construction. Our partnership with CarbiCrete is a testament to our dedication to offering sustainable solutions and actively participating in the circular economy.”

CarbiCrete CEO Chris Stern said “Collaborating with Lafarge allows us to leverage long-established infrastructure and years of expertise in processing steel-related by-products. This enables us to make an immediate climate impact as we scale the deployment of our technology which reduces embodied carbon in concrete by both avoiding emissions and removing carbon through mineralisation.” Regarding the on-going scale-up of production at Patio Drummond’s Drummondville plant, Stern said “Increased production of our carbon-negative blocks brings us closer to our common goal of decarbonising production of the world’s most consumed man-made substance.”

China: Switzerland-based Sika has opened its new Suzhou Technology Centre in Jiangsu Province. The centre will help Sika to develop its sustainable and high-performance technologies in order to grow it market potential throughout the Asia/Pacific region. By strategically expanding its research and development activities across all core technologies, Sika aims to further strengthen its global innovation leadership.

Chief innovation and sustainability officer Patricia Heidtman said "With our new technology centre, we are strengthening our innovation capabilities in the Asia/Pacific region and are fostering synergies in sustainable construction and environmentally friendly mobility. We have created the ideal framework for close collaboration between our research teams. It will thus enable us to develop forward-looking technologies for our customers that combine sustainability with performance."