CemWeek Magazine #52: December 2019

GLOBAL CEMENT INDUSTRY. KNOWLEDGE. ISSUE 52

DECEMBER 2019

Green

Cement Why the conversation needs to shift away from cost

News

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Analysis

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Market Coverage

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Interviews

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People Moves

GLOBAL WHITE CEMENT

MARKET & TRADE REPORT The Global White Cement Market & Trade Report provides an in-depth, data-oriented market assessment of the worldwide white cement industry, focusing on industry trends, global movement of product as well as major suppliers and consumer markets. White cement consumption and production figures are discussed, along with import and export data, pricing trends and white cement capacity developments. The research team highlights global leading white cement producers to provide insight into the production capacity, distribution and marketing initiatives.

Comprehensive analysis of the global white cement market.

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This comprehensive and rigorous outlook provides: •

5-year projection of global white cement consumption and production (in tons) through 2023 by country and region

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White cement plant production facility mapping with manufacturing details and capacity market shares

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Extensive quantitative information on consumption, usage segments, production, local prices, regional benchmark trade prices, trading facilities and trade-flows, by region and major country

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EDITOR’S NOTE Letter from the editor

The CemWeek Magazine is published by the CW Group LLC PO Box 5263 Greenwich, CT 06831, USA www.cwgrp.com www.cemweek.com

STAFFBOX ROBERT MADEIRA CEMWEEK PUBLISHER HEAD OF CW GROUP RESEARCH

The hidden cost of not going green How much does shifting to green cement cost? So far, the conversation has always been focused on clinker alternatives, carbon capture and storage, and acquiring/converting equipment. But what if the cement industry is missing the big, social picture? In this issue, CemWeek looks at the challenges to the adoption of green solutions, and suggests an important angle through which the green construction dialogue should be framed.

It’s no wonder, then, that some of the most read stories in the CemWeek platform include news focused on sustainability and environmental endeavors. As time runs out, the cement sector becomes more conscious of its environmental responsibility, one that pushes it to embrace, and actively participate in, solutions to tackle the increasingly pressing challenges of climate change. In this issue, we look back on 2019 and compile a selection of some of those stories.

Meanwhile, as the global economy continues to grow, mature economies are still showing their appetite for white cement. From production and demand to trade, including end-user segments, in this issue, CW Research analyzes trends through 2024 for the premium building material, whose consumption remains closely linked to GDP growth and consumer spending.

The cement industry has been preparing itself to face the costs of investing in green cement. But would it be ready to cope with the consequences of not investing in it?

Hopefully, time will (not) tell.

Margarida Cunha

Editorial Coordinator

Margarida Cunha Editorial Coordinator

LIVIU DINU Mihnea Manea ADVERTISING

Carolina Pereira Juliana Vieira Prashant Singh Sara Ruas Wanderson Teixeira

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CW Analytics

contents FEATURES 4 Most read stories of 2019 in the global cement industry CemWeek Magazine compiles some of the most popular news of a bubbling year that shows a cement industry more aware of its environmental impact, and thus more open to green solutions 10 CW Research: White cement consumption to top 22 million tons on steady economic growth A steadily growing economy is poised to keep white cement demand increasing modestly until 2024. Meanwhile, mature markets including North America and Western Europe continue to lead world trade of the premium commodity 16 Feature: Green construction and cement – Why the conversation needs to shift away from cost As society has begun to see the initial calamitous aftereffects of climate change as predicted by legions of scientist for decades, there has been a concerted but ill-organized scramble to cut emissions across industrial and economic activities on a large scale. The construction industry, in particular, is coming under increased scrutiny, with resource- and emission-heavy cement and concrete coming first in a long list of concerns to address

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DEPARTMENTS 1 EdiTor's letter The hidden cost of not going green

26 cw group meeting agenda CW Group’s upcoming events

3 numbers in brief Average prices for cement in China increased sharply yearon-year in the first three months of 2019, but fell pronouncedly in South America

22 Departments People Equipment

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27 BUZZ Top 10 CemWeek, BMWeek and PetcokeWeek stories

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The information you need to make the right decisions.

The “Cement and Clinker Price Assessment� product series is a monthly price marker which offers prompt cargo (next 30-60 day deliveries) pricing insights, monthly updates for prices, cement market news and an overview of key developments that are crucial for those involved in the cement and clinker trade.

The monthly updates cover distinct price markers: Mediterranean Basin

Med Basin bulk Portland clinker and cement FOB

Persian Gulf & East Africa Arabian Sea and East Africa: Persian Gulf - Arabian Sea bulk Portland clinker and cement FOB East Africa bulk Portland cement CFR

PO Box 5263, Greenwich, CT 06831, USA sales@cwgrp.com

Cement and clinker price assessments

Insight Analysis

Most read stories of 2019 in the global cement industry CemWeek Magazine compiles some of the most popular news of a bubbling year that shows a cement industry more aware of its environmental impact, and thus more open to green solutions

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Insight Analysis

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he most read stories of 2019 on CemWeek reveal a cement sector more awake to its environmental responsibility, one that pushes it to embrace, and actively participate in, solutions to the increasingly pressing challenges of climate change.

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As a consequence, in mature economies, total and per-capita cement consumption will possibly experience a modest decrease until 2050. Conversely, in developing economies, growing population and their efforts towards modernization are forecast to widen their slice of world cement demand.

US boosting oil well cement demand through 2024 CW Research, in its World Oil Well Cement Market Forecast 2024, projects consumption of cementitious materials for drilling in the US to reach roughly four million tons by 2024.

The upward trend will be supported by an improvement in drilling activity, in turn underpinned by the recovery of oil prices.

“Finding its footing, US exploration activity has again wound up with drilling activity resuming after a period of ‘cricket- like’ silence.

Although global oil dynamics are still playing out, somewhat reducing demand for sweet light US-type crude, a reasonably strong US economy is supporting renewed drilling and consequently a notable uptick in oil well cement demand,” notes Robert Madeira, Head of Research for CW Advisory and Research.

One of the world’s largest crude oil producers, the US market has an estimated daily production of around 10 million barrels per day. That makes the US the leading oil and gas well driller in North America, and also the leading market for oil well cement consumption in the region.

The US alone accounts for roughly 40% of the global oil well cement consumption, thus making North America the largest regional consumer of the commodity. Oil well cement demand in the country peaked in 2014 at over seven million tons. However, consumption collapsed in 2016 following challenging conditions in the oil and gas industry. By 2018, oil well cement consumption recovered by over 50 percent, mainly on the back of a large addition of onshore and shale wells.

On the production side, Cemex is the major oil well cement manufacturer in the United States, with four manufacturing units, followed by LafargeHolcim with three, and Buzzi Unicem with two.

Customer-wise, Schlumberger, Halliburton, and Baker Hughes emerge as some of the largest oil well cement consumers.

Although buyers in the US market require API certification, the market for non-monogrammed oil well cement is strong. This is due to the pricing deferential between monogrammed and nonmonogrammed oil well cement, amidst a premium pricing strategy adopted by renowned manufacturers for their API-certified cement. As a consequence of the acceptance of non-monogrammed cement in the market, API-certified companies are oftentimes discouraged from renewing their certification.

Rural, affordable housing boost cement demand in India Between April 2018 and January 2019, cement demand increased by

13.6 percent year-on-year in India.

The increase was almost double the seven-percent previously forecasted and was mostly supported by affordable and rural housing.

The same segments, coupled with infrastructure projects such as new roads, metro project, and irrigation, are expected to boost cement demand by seven percent during 2019-20.

Additional cement demand is expected to reach 24-28 million tons of cement in 2019-20, surpassing the expected increase in capacity of 1718 million tons per annum.

Researchers investigating new type of cement Kemal Celik, professor of civil engineering at New York University Abu Dhabi and the director of the Advanced Materials and Building Efficiency Research (AMBER) Laboratory, is leading a team of researchers to discover a way to convert magnesium oxide into a type of cement.

The team is based in the United Arab Emirates, and they realized that they could tap the over 70 operating desalination plants for access to brine left over from the process of purifying seawater.

The process of synthesizing the mineral that is typically found in salt deposits and brine into a cement-like substance requires less heat than making ordinary cement, and it also hardens over its lifetime, absorbing carbon dioxide over time, potentially making it a carbon-negative building material.

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Insight Analysis The research proved that the produced material is as strong and adaptable as ordinary cement when used in concrete, and it could prove useful as an outlet for brine from desalination units that don’t know how to dispose of it, particularly in areas that have limited potable water resources.

And, as the material is able to pull excess carbon from the atmosphere, it could also allow the building industry to lower its associated emissions.

World cement demand to shrink to 4 billion tons by 2050 Global cement consumption can contract to 4.01 billion tons in 2050, according to CW Research’s longterm forecast available in the 1H2019 update of the Global Cement Volume Forecast Report (GCVFR).

Under this scenario, cement consumption would decline sharply in China, but show moderate gains in both advanced and emerging economies. Functionally, factors such as environmental restrictions, substitutes and evolving construction methods would also pressure growth.

“The largest growth in cement consumption is expected for the emerging markets and developing economies as their economic indicators gallop to catch up with the levels of the advanced economies.

Additionally, continuous population growth in these markets would also constitute an important demand generator”, observes Prashant Singh, CW Group’s Associate Director.

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Brisk population growth in some regions, coupled with rapidly growing urbanization rates in underdeveloped and emerging economies, is likely to exert a positive impact on cement demand through 2050. Given that population growth in emerging and under-developed markets is rising at a clipper rate, per-capita cement demand is projected to grow slower than total cement demand in these markets.

consumption is projected for the 2018-2050 period, driven by recurrent construction and maintenance needs.

In mature economies, total and per-capita cement consumption will possibly experience a modest decrease until 2050. With evertightening environment norms, and focus on more environmentallyfriendly and sustainable construction processes, CW Research projects developed markets to register an increase in the usage of alternative building materials including lowclinker cement, alternative fuels, and precast concrete. These are expected to complement, not replace, the consumption of cement due to its ubiquitous nature.

Brazil’s cement sales rise in January-August

The Chinese cement market, the catalyst for global cement demand, is currently at a demand peak of 2.3 billion tons, but is prone to a significant contraction in cement consumption as the government continues to enforce strict rationalization efforts of cement capacity. Cement demand growth over the period until 2050 is expected to follow a more moderate pace as the growth focus changes from government spending to a consumption-driven economy.

In North America, Western Europe, and developed Asia-Pacific countries, a slight increase in cement

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In markets in North Africa, Middle East, South America and Emerging Asia, GDP is forecast to record a more-than-double increase to 2050, which, coupled with population increase, is likely to translate into an expansion in cement demand.

Cement sales in Brazil reached 35.9 million tons in the first eight months of 2019, increasing by 2.9 percent year-on-year.

In August alone, sales reached 5.1 million tons, a rise of three percent over the equivalent month of 2018.

Meanwhile, domestic sales and imports totaled 5.1 million tons in this month, growing by 2.9 percent year-on-year, and 2.8 percent year-todate in total.

“The indicators are recovering.

Construction GDP started to react in the second quarter, as did sales of construction materials, such as rebar, crushed stone, among others, ”says Paulo Camillo Penna, president of the National Cement Industry Union (SNIC). ”The real estate sector remains the driver of cement demand.

Accumulated launches up to June were 15 percent higher than the same period last year, while sales increased 12 percent over the same period. The external environment appears as the biggest unknown in the scenario, at this moment, impacted by the

US-China trade conflict that may have effects on the activity level�, concludes the executive.

Scientists develop new process to remove carbon emissions from cement manufacturing process Researchers from MIT claim they have developed a new method that can remove most of the carbon emissions from the cement production process without affecting the resulting product.

The new process uses an electrolyzer instead of heating up the ground-up limestone, making electrodes split water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen, creating an acid at one electrode and a base at the other.

The limestone is then dissolved in the acid, while calcium hydroxide is created at the other end, in solid flakes, which can then be harvested to produce cement. This will still produce carbon dioxide during the dissolution of the limestone, but instead of being released into the year, it can be captured and repurposed for liquid fuel production, or for carbonating drinks.

Researchers added that the produced carbon dioxide can also be combined with oxygen produced by

the same system and burned to fuel the rest of the new cement-making process, thus making it sustainable.

Its possible sale to other industries could also present an added-value for manufacturers.

The technique so far was only demonstrated in lab, and shown to work at a small scale. The scientists say it can be scaled up easily, but more work needs to be done before it can be implemented in the real world.

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FEATURE CW RESEARCH

White cement consumption to top 22 million tons on steady economic growth

A steadily growing economy is poised to keep white cement demand increasing modestly until 2024. Meanwhile, mature markets including North America and Western Europe continue to lead world trade of the premium commodity

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FEATURE

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etween 2019 and 2024, “In spite of the dark clouds that global white cement demand have been pervading menacingly is projected to increase over the global economic sentiment, modestly to over 22 million tons, according to CW Research’s 2020 Global White Cement Market and Trade Report. The global economy is expected to recover and continue to grow, providing the backdrop for the encouraging trend, since, as a premium commodity, consumption of white cement benefits from GDP growth and increasing consumer spending.

As a premium commodity, consumption of white cement benefits from GDP growth and increasing consumer spending

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the global white cement market managed to weather the storm and come out relatively unscathed, in comparison to the much larger and more followed global gray cement market,” notes Prashant Singh, CW Group’s Associate Director.

Asia ex-China gains consumption share At a global level, during the period of 2014 to 2019, the regions that drove the white cement market were North America and Western Europe.

Additionally, Asia ex-China has become an important growth center over the past five years. Regions including the Middle East and E. Europe & CIS (primarily Turkey) are facing numerous economic challenges and experienced either decline or stagnation in demand in 2019.

Chart: global white cement consumption) (mn tons)

Source: CW Research

China remains the largest white cement market from a regional perspective, accounting for roughly a third of global demand. However, its share of world consumption is expected to decrease as other regions including Asia ex-China, E. Europe & CIS, and Africa see faster rates of demand growth, outpacing China over the forecast period from 2019 to 2024.

China leads world production In addition to leading global consumption of white cement, in 2019, China accounts for an estimated 34 percent of the production market, followed by the Middle East, albeit at a very distant second place. Western Europe comes next, followed by Asia ex-China, both holding double-digit shares of the world’s white cement output.

“China and the Middle East remain the leaders in production. However, in terms of percentage, North America is expected to more than double its existing capacity by 2024, with the commissioning of US Cement’s 0.5-million-ton plant in Brady, Texas,” assesses Carolina Pereira, Business Analyst at CW Group.

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FEATURE China remains the largest white cement market from a regional perspective, accounting for roughly a third of global demand

In the last five years, capacity additions have grown steadily, with some notable increments. Ultratech Cement’s capacity increased to 0.7 million tons in 2019 in Kharia Khangar, at the Rajasthan cement plant. In 2018, Gezhouba Shimen Special Cement Company commissioned a new production unit in Guangxi province, China, with a capacity of 0.6 million tons. Another example is that of Xi Mang Trang, which, also in 2018, commissioned a new production unit in Vietnam, with a capacity of 0.1 million tons of white cement.

Western Europe and North America lead trade In 2019, Western Europe remained the major white cement exporting region, followed by Eastern Europe and CIS. Western European intraregional trade accounted for 74 percent of regional exports, while a much smaller percentage was shipped to North America.

Chart: Global white cement trade overview (mn tons)

Source: CW Research

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Masonry applications are estimated to have accounted for the lion’s share of white cement consumption “Driven by the correlation between higher economic growth and white cement demand, North America and the Middle East unsurprisingly remained the premier destinations for imports of white cement, heavily linked with structural applications including pre-cast,” notes Carolina Pereira, Business Analyst at CW Group.

North America tops imports North America remains the largest import destination for white cement in 2019. The United States is estimated to have imported over a million tons of white cement. A significant share of the US imports is accounted for by supplies from its neighbors, Canada and Mexico, with the remainder coming from a selective set of countries including Denmark and Turkey.

The majority of white cement is traded by sea, with large consumers of white cement at a regional level consisting

mostly of mature markets, including North America and Western Europe.

Since current macroeconomic challenges have yet to dissipate, the major trading markets, as advanced economies, have been more able to adjust to evolving demand and pricing scenarios.

In terms of white cement pricing, there is little variation when compared to the previous year, given the relative stability of the global white cement market in the current year. FOB prices in a selection of key markets, including Turkey, the UAE, and Denmark, present a wide variation of almost 40 percent between lowest and highest figures.

Masonry applications lead use preferences The use of white cement varies depending on intended applications, ranging from aesthetic requirements to structural. As such, the grade of white cement is chosen accordingly: high-strength white cement is a prerequisite for structural applications, whereas low-strength white cement remains the choice for decorative concrete products and tiles.

In terms of end-user segments, in 2019, masonry applications are estimated to have accounted for the lion’s share of white cement consumption, followed by architectural precast applications.

Other applications, including pool finishes, take the third place, albeit with a much slimmer slice of the consumption market.

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About the report CW Research’s 2020 update of the Global White Cement Market and Trade Report examines the worldwide white cement industry and presents the latest market data which cover the 2009 -2019E period, with a mediumterm forecast until 2024.

The comprehensive report includes cement consumption and production figures, import and export data, as well as pricing trends and white cement capacity developments. Additionally, this data-rich research product provides extensive quantitative information on consumption, usage segments, production, local prices, trade prices, type of handling, trading facilities and trade-flows, by region and major countries.

Furthermore, the report analyzes region specific user segments by white cement type and their main consumption drivers as well as perspective for 2024.

More information about the report can be found here: https://www.cwgrp. com/research/research-products/ product/293-global-white-cementmarket-and-trade-report-2020-update

For more information and placing an order, please contact Liviu Dinu, Market Services & Marketing Consultant, CW Group (Europe), by phone at +40-74467-44-11, or e-mail at ld@cwgrp.com.

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FEATURE

Green construction and cement:

Why the conversation needs to shift away from cost As society has begun to see the initial calamitous aftereffects of climate change as predicted by legions of scientist for decades, there has been a concerted but ill-organized scramble to cut emissions across industrial and economic activities on a large scale. The construction industry, in particular, is coming under increased scrutiny, with resource- and emission-heavy cement and concrete coming first in a long list of concerns to address.

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FEATURE

C

ement manufacturing is one of the industries that contributes the most to greenhouse gas emissions, about eight percent of the annual total, according to Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, an independent policy institute based in London. Nevertheless, the building material is also one of our most used resources, second only to water. With a rising global population, the need for resilient housing and infrastructure in the wake of increasingly temperamental weather due to climate change is ever more pressing. But what to do when the solution is also a large part of the problem?

While some alternative materials to cement exist, their cost, durability or performance efficiency when compared to the material still fall short of the widely available construction product. And while certain manufacturing and mixing techniques or equipment are used to minimize the impact of its production on our atmosphere, they may not be the most accessible, either monetarily or logistically, in the developing markets, which account for a larger share of the global production.

However, according to many companies, customers are still slow to embrace the new products, due to “limited sensitivity for carbon emissions in the construction of a building,” according to Jens

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Diebold, head of sustainability at LafargeHolcim. Diebold stressed that the company had once launched a carbon-free product, but customers did not show much interest as it was more expensive and used a different production process.

The use of clinker alternatives and other cementitious materials could help cut emissions of greenhouse gases by 25 to 35 percent The industry is nonetheless now more aware of these problems and is continuously working to reduce their impact on climate and carbon emissions through more sustainable practices, innovation, and research.

It is estimated that the use of clinker alternatives and of other cementitious materials could help to cut emissions of greenhouse gases by 25 to 35 percent, while the use of waste materials in concrete manufacturing could also enable power and material savings for the industry.

New methods, new equipment

In its 2018 Sustainability Report, LafargeHolcim highlighted how it

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has been able to slash its net carbon emissions per ton by 25 percent since 1990, increase processing of waste at its mills by six percent when compared to 2017, and reduce overall water withdrawal at its plants by 7.5 percent.

While these efforts are commendable, especially for one of the largest global cement producers, they may do little to meet the Paris Agreement goals of “keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius”, according to the United Nations. That is because cement production facilities are mostly located in countries or regions with fewer emission regulations, and smaller companies may not be able to invest in equipment or projects to reduce their impact on the environment.

However, breakthroughs in research for new production methods and materials could make construction materials, cement in particular, more environmentally-friendly. A particularly recent development has garnered interest in the industry, as researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have created a new production method for cement using electrolysis that removes all carbon emissions in the process, and also allows for reuse or sale of the resources utilized in the process.

One of the most important ways to achieve a greener product is also to reduce the amount of nonrenewable resources utilized during the manufacturing process, or to use alternative materials. Co-incineration in particular has become the industry’s go-to solution for this challenge, as

it allows the processing of waste – with used rubber tires being one of the most used materials – into fine cement powder, replacing clinker and offsetting some of the production process impacts. Other solutions are also popular, particularly in the concrete-making phase, and include replacing part of the cement mix with fly ash, or aggregates such as sand with microplastics or other types of waste, even construction waste.

Concrete ways

India was one of the leaders in mixing waste during concrete production, as well as in the overall cement production process. In the 1996-1997 fiscal year, the country introduced new regulations to tackle the growing fly ash piles at the new coal-powered power plants, which sprouted from the government’s efforts to industrialize and modernize over several decades. Among the top uses directed for this waste material

Breakthroughs in research for new production methods and materials could make construction materials more environmentallyfriendly from coal burning was cement and concrete production, with fly ash being blended with both materials during their respective manufacturing phase without compromising the performance of the final product.

The initiative boosted much research into fly ash and other waste products, such as granulated slag, a byproduct from the steelmaking process, all over the world. Scientists have also begun looking into materials such as plastic polymers to mix with cement instead of aggregates and sand to produce concrete, as well as construction waste, thus reducing the impact of the final product on the environment.

Furthermore, the main contribution of concrete to the green trend lies in its capacity to reabsorb part of the carbon it emits into the atmosphere during its making, known as recarbonation. Many in the industry have started to look at this as their starting point to develop carbon-neutral policies and/ or carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects, such as HeidelbergCement, which is researching the feasibility of its full-scale carbon capture and storage project at its subsidiary’s,

Chart: Carbon emissions from the cement industry 2004-2014 (mn tons)

Source: CW Research

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FEATURE Fly ash production and consumption in cement industry for select markets in 2016 (mn tons)

Source: CW Research

Lehigh Cement, Canadian facility.

HeidelbergCement has also recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Norwegian energy group Equinor to expand its CCS projects in the region, as well as its transportation and use.

Meanwhile, LafargeHolcim has also focused on carbon capture in Canada, partnering with the CO2MENT project to capture and reuse CO2 from its cement plant in Richmond, British Columbia.

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In addition to already-established cement manufacturers’ CCS undertakings, initiatives such as Australia’s Mineral Carbonation International (MCI) seek to transform CO2 emissions into valuable products for use in advanced materials and in building products such as cements and plasterboards. In July 2018, MCI completed a five- year research pilot plant program funded by Australian Governments and Industry. Currently, with solid techno/economic

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Demand for green solutions in the construction industry is growing steadily validation of the technology, the company is developing partnerships and investment for global commercial opportunities.

“What these developments and initiatives have shown is that environmental challenges are not limited to a particular set of countries, but rather require a global approach,” notes Prashant Singh, CW Group’s Associate Director.

“However, sustainability issues are in effect more of a concern to emerging and developing economies, which need to push for immediate and large-

scale adoption of these products and policies to mitigate the impact that climate change is likely to have on the most vulnerable populations,” Singh adds.

Conclusion Demand for green solutions in the construction industry is growing steadily, particularly in developed markets, where consumer awareness regarding these issues is stronger.

As policy makers at a global scale are enforcing more sustainable practices in line with goals set forth by international movements, the appetite for green construction materials and production methods is only expected to intensify over the coming years. Therefore, companies are expected to ramp up their research and development on the topic, with many of them already offering “green cement” products in key markets, such as Votorantim’s Verdera brand, which offers coprocessing services to Brazil’s industry, and LafargeHolcim’s wide range of green cement products, including CEMII, LEED, BREEAM, and

Scientists have also begun looking into materials such as plastic polymers to mix with cement instead of aggregates and sand HQE, used across many markets according to its clients’ needs.

“Despite the above, the main challenge in front of the industry is the fact this debate has been framed as a push-pull conversation rather than a pull-push approach,” assesses Singh. “In essence, the industry needs to help change the paradigm of how its customers see its products, and

this will then push for more changes, leading to a virtuous cycle. As long as consumers do not purchase these products, their concerns driven primarily by a pricing approach, all the new substitutes and products are of little use. The conversation needs to change from why consumers should use these products to why they need to, with costs a part of the conversation, not the defining quotient.”

With human impact on climate change a constant topic both for discussion and action, the industry is under scrutiny to change its practices. There still is a long way before the road to green construction evolves from what is still perceived as a niche into a widespread cornerstone of contemporary and future quality of life. However, policy makers are also under pressure to promote transformation, which could come sooner rather than later as grassroots movements and consumers’ increased awareness of their influence on the industry and its products are better understood.

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DEPARTMENTS

PEOPLE Director from Dangote Cement resigns Fidelis Madavo, a non-executive director from the board of Dangote Cement, has resigned from it.

The resignation took effect on November 21, and the reason for the resignation was not highlighted.

Madavo had been appointed to the board as a non-executive director in 2004, and was the Head of Resources and Portfolio Manager for Strategic and African Listed Investments at the Public Investments Corporation of South Africa at the time of his resignation.

Eurocement Group appoints new directors to subsidiaries The Eurocement Group appointed new directors to its subsidiaries, Pikalevsky Cement and Petersburg Cement.

Pikalevsky Cement will now be headed

by Andrey Vashchilov, while Vladimir Fetisov will be in charge of Petersburg Cement. The company aims to develop the plants with the help of large-scale investment projects.

Petersburg Cement has recently put its own power plant in operation, while Pikalevsky Cement began production on its updated grinding equipment.

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PEOPLE Premier Cement appoints new COO Premier Cement Mills has hired Tarique Kamal as its new chief operating officer (COO).

Kamal’s position in the company is effective from October 1. He holds both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from the Institute of Business Administration from the University of Dhaka.

He previously worked as head of sales and distribution at Arla Foods Bangladesh, and also worked at British American Tobacco Bangladesh.

FLSmidth China joins World Cement Association

FLSmidth China, a wholly owned subsidiary of FLSmidth A/S, the marketleading supplier of production facilities, equipment and service solutions to the global mining and cement industry, has joined the international association as an Associate Member.

“With FLSmidth, we welcome an important player in the global cement industry to our membership,” said Vincent Lefebvre,

Chairman of the World Cement Association.

“We share FLSmidth’s commitment to helping deliver sustainable solutions that reduce the environmental impact of cement production, and look forward to working closely with them and our international membership to raise standards in the cement industry around the globe.”

“As a leading contributor to cement production around the world, we share

responsibility for driving the sector towards more sustainable productivity,” said Cyril Leung, Country Head of FLSmidthChina. “We are inspired by the work already done by the WCA to seek collaborative approaches to some of the central environmental and technological issues and opportunities faced by our industry today, and we look forward to contributing to this global discussion as Associate Member going forward.”

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DEPARTMENTS

EQUIPMENT Dangote Cement turns to GE to digitize its cement plants GE and Africa’s leading cement producer Dangote Cement Plc signed an agreement to deploy GE’s Asset Performance Management (APM) digital solution to reduce unplanned downtime and enhance performance at its two cement plants in Obajana and Ibese, Nigeria. The project includes extending the current service agreement for an additional 50,000 operating hours for the seven GE LM6000PC aeroderivative gas turbines installed at the sites. GE’s total plant solutions will improve efficiency, reliability essential to continuous operations and the plants’ business strategy.

“Power supply is both a key input and a major cost in our manufacturing process,” said Ravi Sood, Operations Director, Dangote Cement Plc. “Operational performance is crucial to our cement plant’s overall productivity, directly affecting end products.

Being at the front of cement production in Africa, we believe extending our services agreement with GE and the introduction of digital solutions will allow us to improve efficiencies, anticipate further reductions in unplanned downtime and become more self-sufficient in power production in a country which, with approximately 190 million inhabitants, is the most populous country in Africa and the seventh most populous country in the world.”

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APM leverages cutting-edge technology to monitor the performance of power generation assets to reduce downtime, avoid turbines damage and remotely predict and resolve issues. APM sensors will be installed not only on the seven aeroderivative turbines, but also on their associated generators and gear boxes to predict and accurately diagnose issues with greater accuracy before they occur.

“Energy infrastructure is getting smarter, and digital solutions allow

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not only the shift from traditional calendar-based repairs to predictive maintenance, but they also increase power asset availability and reliability,” said Elisee Sezan, CEO for GE’s Gas Power businesses in sub–Saharan Africa. “We are proud to continue our 13-year collaboration with Dangote Cement to help them support Nigeria and other African countries towards achieving self-reliance and selfsufficiency in the world’s most basic commodities.”

EQUIPMENT MIT researchers discover new ways to develop more specialized oil-well cement

Scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed new techniques for observing the setting process in microscopic detail, which could lead to the development of new formulations specifically designed for the conditions of a given well location.

“There are hundreds of different mixtures” of cement currently in use, says Oral Buyukozturk, who is the George Macomber Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at MIT. The new methods developed by this team for observing how these different formulations behave during the setting process “open a new environment for research and innovation” in developing these specialized cements, he says.

Their new method uses a unique detector setup at Oak Ridge National Laboratory called the Nanoscale Ordered Materials Diffractometer (NOMAD), used to carry a process called Neutron Pair Distribution Function analysis, or PDF. This technique can examine in situ the distribution of pairs of atoms in the material that mimics realistic

conditions that are encountered in a real oil well at depth.

“NOMAD is perfectly suited to study complex structural problems such as understanding hydration in concrete, because of its high flux and the sensitivity of neutrons to light elements such as hydrogen,” says Thomas Proffen of ORNL, a co-author of the paper.

“The methane, water, and all sorts of different chemicals down there [in the well] create a corrosion problem,” Buyukozturk says. “Also, the well bore circumferential area is next to parts of the Earth’s crust that have instabilities, so material could tumble into the hole and damage the casing.” The way to prevent these instabilities is to pump cement through the casing into the area between the well bore and the casing, which provides “zonal isolation.” The cement then provides a hydraulic seal to keep any water and other fluids away from the casing.

This new method of studying the setting process provides a way “to precisely understand this process, so

we can engineer the next generation of retardants,” says Kunal Kupwade-Patil, MIT research scientist and lead author of this paper. “These retardants are very important,” not only for protecting the environment but also for preventing serious economic losses from a damaged or leaking well. “Loss of the seal is serious, so you can’t afford to make a mistake” in the cement sealing process, he says.

“After obtaining my PhD, about 30 years ago, my first job was to improve the quality of oil-well cementing,” says Paulo Monteiro, the Roy W. Carlson Distinguished Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California at Berkeley, who was not involved in this work. “At that time there were limited sophisticated characterization techniques, so it is a real pleasure to see X-ray and neutron total scattering methods being applied to study the hydration of oil-well cements in the presence of chemical admixtures.” He adds that these new methods have “the potential to guide the development of tailor-made admixtures that can significantly improve the performance of oil-well cementing.”

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december 2019

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Flashback NEWS FLOW IN CEMWEEK.COM LAST TWO MONTHS

Russia 19 articles

Spain 16 articles

United States 24 articles

Turkey 15 articles

Pakistan 14 articles

Egypt 47 articles Saudi Arabia 15 articles

Bangladesh 16 articles Indonesia 15 articles

Brazil 18 articles

cw Research agenda / reports The CW Group will be hosting and participating in a number of webinars and conferences. We invite you to join us on-line or in person at the events to discuss our views of the industry. To learn more, please visit https://www.cwgrp.com/research/webinars-and-meetings

CW Research's meeting agenda includes: January 9, 2020

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Who will drive cement equipment demand in the next 5 years?

Cw Research's newest reportS:

Webinars

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World Cement Equipment Market and Forecast Report 2020

Global White Global Cement Cement Market and Volume Forecast Trade Report Report 2H2019 (2020 update)

January 2020

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decline through remainder of 2019 US seeks opportunities in rare earth elements extraction from coal ash 4. U.S. Silica increases prices of Industrial and Specialty products 5. Brazil: E2E acquires majority stake in Tecverde 6. CEMEX supplies aggregates to innovative diverging diamond interchange in Arizona 7. LinkedIn to use environmentally-friendly concrete in new California headquarters 8. HeidelbergCement's subsidiary establishes new concrete plant in Bosnia 9. Transparent wood proves promising for construction industry 10. Masaveu Group inaugurates cement and slag terminal at El Musel port 3.

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Spain: Catalonia prohibits use of petcoke Brazil: Petroleum coke to top Port of Cabedelo's trade in December 3. BR Distribuidora’s profit surges over 20% as green petcoke demand expands 4. Heydar Aliyev refinery continues modernization and reconstruction project 5. Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals load first petcoke cargo 6. Indian Oil to set up new petcoke gasification units at Paradip refinery 7. Goa Carbon’s calcined petroleum coke production surges in November 8. US: Richmond’s mayor postpones petcoke storage ban bill 9. Inalum expected to halt alumina imports by 2022 10. Brazil: Port of Imbituba's handled petcoke reaches new record high

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China’s cement production increases in JanuarySeptember 2. Cement prices edge up in October; clinker shows regional variations 3. Argentina’s cement shipments drop in October 4. Lafarge Egypt increases prices 5. Turkmenistan cement plant exports over 240,000 tons of product in January-October 6. CW Group completes Green Construction and Circular Economy Opportunity Assessment 7. FLSmidth launches new sustainability initiative 8. Buzzi Unicem prepares pilot for CO2 capture in cement manufacturing 9. CW Group delivers Study on Market Sizing and Business Opportunities for Defense Products 10. MIT researchers discover new ways to develop more specialized oil-well cement

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World Cement Equipment Market and Forecast Report

The World Cement Equipment Market and Forecast report addresses important market dynamics and the outlook for equipment used in the production of clinker and cement, in integrated as well as grinding units. Key trends in the main production equipment segments are discussed, sized and forecasted (in USD value and capacity, where applicable), broken down into geographic segments (principal countries, regions and global by equipment type). The study offers a rigorous analysis of past and future cement plant capacity expansions (greenfield and brownfield expansions) with all the production stages covered.

Comprehensive analysis of the cement equipment market.

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This comprehensive and rigorous outlook provides: Detailed regional breakdown of cement plant equipment by unit (required in crushing, power, pyro processing and dispatch) and market size value Information derived from extensive primary interviews and industry expertise A five-year forecast of future equipment needs by type of equipment built through an end-user-informed bottom-up approach Market shares of suppliers within each main segment (i.e., mills, kilns and coolers)

CEM ENT • BUILDING MAT ERIALS • DRY BULK CARGO & SHIPPING • CHEMICALS • INDUST RIAL MINERALS • INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT • PAPER & PULP • PET COKE research.cwgrp.com •

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