Bangladesh: LafargeHolcim Bangladesh has announced the launch of its new Powercrete ready-mix concrete. Jago News24 has reported that LafargeHolcim Bangladesh designed Powercrete concrete’s recipe for infrastructure applications.
Head of innovation and technical services Fakhruddin Md Khan said “Powercrete offers technical advantages and specialised services for complex projects.”
India: Shree Cement plans to scale up its all-India ready-mix concrete footprint from 19 batching plants to 45 by the end of 2026. Press Trust of India News has reported that existing plants sourced 45% of cement from Shree Cement’s cement plants in 2025. These are due to rise to 72Mt/yr in installed capacity in March 2026, as part of a US$5.81m capital expenditure drive for the 2026 financial year, up to 31 March 2026. Other projects include railway sidings construction.
Currently, Shree Cement powers 61% of its operations renewably, supported by an installed captive capacity of 634MW.
Colombia: Cementos Argos Colombia sold 112,840m³ of new concrete products in 2025, representing a value of US$16.1m. The producer said that this constituted 23% of its national sales of products in the year. The new concrete products include lightweight concretes and mortars, reduced-CO₂ recipes, high-strength/early-age concretes, high-complexity mass concretes and large-format slabs for industrial floors. In total, Cementos Argos Colombia developed 333 new concrete products in 2025.
The producer reduced the overall global warming potential of its concrete mixes by 3%, from 364kg to 353kg of CO₂ equivalent per cubic metre, representing a cumulative reduction of 23,200t year-on-year.
Germany: Researchers at the University of Stuttgart have developed a novel cement-free bioconcrete using human urine. DPA Trends News has reported that the team’s recipe mixes sand and a bacterial powder in moulds, where it is rinsed with urine for a period of days. This converts the urine’s urea content into calcium carbonate crystals. This reportedly results in faster hardening than concrete produced using conventional cement, ending in a block with a compressive strength of 60MPa. This makes the resulting bioconcrete blocks suitable for use in load-bearing masonry or as paving materials. 26,000l of urine produced 1m³ of bioconcrete.
Toilet systems producers Arwinger and Kompotoi supported the research, with prospective partners for collaborations including Stuttgart Airport and local festivals in Baden-Württemberg.
