Global Slag News

Saudi Arabia: Al Kifah Ready Mix & Blocks has updated the market on its achievements in the sustainable concrete space in Saudi Arabia. The producer’s mixes include slag-based aggregates, as well as natural pozzolans and CO₂ injected using equipment developed by Canada-based CarbonCure. Gulf Construction News has reported that the company's range of ultra-low CO₂ ConGreen concrete products and BloGreen concrete blocks have supported projects including the Aramco Stadium project in Al Khobar, Qiddiya amusement park in Riyadh and King Salman Global Maritime Industries Complex in Jubail.

General Manager Nigel Harries said "Al Kifah Ready Mix & Blocks’ products have been widely adopted in mega and giga projects across the kingdom and have proved their high performance, thus strengthening the company’s position in the Saudi market. Al Kifah’s green solutions have unique properties that facilitate tasks on the job site through their better workability and finishability. They can be considered an all-in-one solution, offering zero wastage, zero mobilisation time, lower emissions and a smart way for supplying concrete in remote areas."

Finland: Betolar has procured a patent for a new accelerator solution for use in CEM III/B slag cement mixes. The company says that the product enables the achievement of conventional demoulding times in the production of concrete elements using slag cement with a clinker content of 20 – 34%. It will also enable its use in hollow-core slabs and as shotcrete in the mining industry.

President and CEO Tuija Kalpala said "Our patented innovation paves the way for the large-scale use of cement mixtures in the production of concrete elements and products, significantly reducing CO₂ emissions."

India: JSW Cement recorded a market share of 83% in the Indian ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) market in the 2024 financial year, which ended on 31 March 2024. CNBCTV News has reported that JSW Cement sells GBFS produced from slag supplied by fellow JSW Group company JSW Steel, alongside other partners in the steel sector. JSW Steel is presently expanding its refineries in Dolvi, Maharashtra, and Vijayanagar, Karnataka.

JSW Cement’s existing customers include construction firms for the Mumbai Coastal Road, Mumbai Trans-Harbour Sea Link, Bengaluru International Airport and nuclear power plant projects. India’s total national consumption of slag in the reporting period was an estimated 6 – 6.2Mt. Ratings agency CRISIL has forecast composite annual growth of 15 – 16% until the 2029 financial year, to reach 13Mt.

UK: UK-based startup Cocoon has raised €4.9m in pre-seed funding to develop technology that repurposes byproducts from electrified steel furnaces into a ‘near-identical replacement’ for blast furnace slag, according to the company. The modular technology integrates into existing steel-making processes without disrupting operations or requiring high capital expenditure, reports UK Tech News. Cocoon targets a 50% replacement of cement in concrete, aiming to reduce emissions for producers. Initial tests are underway at a steel plant in northern England, followed by another in the US.

Cocoon CEO Eliot Brooks said "We’re turning a byproduct with little use into a valuable product that the market badly needs and can be easily integrated into existing supply chains. By repairing a broken link in the circular economy, Cocoon provides steel makers with a new revenue stream while meeting the low-carbon material needs of the concrete industry. For every 1t of Cocoon’s slag-based cementitious material used, 1t of CO₂ can be avoided."

Brooks hopes Cocoon's climate technology will be integrated into a pilot plant by late 2025.

UK: A steel and cement co-recycling process developed at the University of Cambridge has received US$2.9m in seed funding. Cambridge Electric Cement is utilising slag produced during the steelmaking process, which uses electric arc furnaces instead of blast furnaces, as clinker for cement. The researchers are conducting a US$8.4m trial called Cement 2 Zero to test the production process, aiming to produce 110t of recycled cement during the two-year program.