UAE: Saint-Gobain Weber has installed a new system at its Abu Dhabi mortars plant to recover dust from its crusher and re-inject it into the plant’s raw materials stream. This is part of a package of upgrades to lower the Abu Dhabi plant’s consumption of virgin materials, which also reduced its generation of waste by 4380t/yr between 2019 and 2023. The L’Usine Nouvelle newspaper has reported that other investments included the electrification of the plant’s forklift fleet.

Saint-Gobain reduced its Scope 1 and 2 CO₂ emissions by 14%, its non-recycled waste by 78% and its water footprint by 10% in the Middle East between 2017 and 2023.

Europe: Cemex has enhanced safety across its European Admixtures facilities during 2023 with the implementation of new assistance systems supplied by Linde Material Handling. The systems include a reverse assist camera for forklifts. The group installed the technology at its Salzkotten admixtures plant in Germany and its Rugby admixtures plant in the UK. It will now implement the upgrade at its Alicante admixtures plant in Spain, as well other sites across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) during 2024.

Cemex European regional director of admixtures Dietmar Voetsch said “At Cemex, we are always looking for new processes and innovations to ensure safety in our workplaces. Linde’s safety guard system and reverse assist camera are ideal solutions for occupational safety in our Admixtures plants; we were immediately convinced by the technology and the feedback we’ve received from employees who have used it has been extremely positive. Once the European rollout is complete, we are excited to adapt the technology further for use in our admixtures plants across the wider EMEA region.”

Linde Material Handling safety product manager Fabian Zimmerman said “We’re proud to have supported Cemex with the implementation of both the safety guard system and the reverse assist camera at their European admixtures plants. By installing these systems, the safety of daily situations like loading and unloading lorries or storage can be increased significantly. We provide these solutions as a retrofit; thus, complete fleets can be equipped with these assistance systems.”

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."