US: The Slag Cement Association (SCA) says that slag cement shipments in 2017 grew by 14 year-on-year. This follows a growth of 12% to 2.7Mt in 2016. The SCA says this shows increasing demand for slag cement in the US.

“As consumers are becoming more aware of the variety of benefits and applications associated with slag cement use in construction, they also start to rely on its consistency,” said Ed Griffith, president of the SCA. “The reliability of the product seems to go over well with the industry, it’s nice to see the shipping trends reflect this industry awareness.”

South Korea: Baring Private Equity Asia has sold Halla Cement to Asia Cement for US$723m. The combined business will be the third largest cement player in Korea, with a combined market share of 19%.

Baring Private Equity Asia bought Lafarge Halla Cement from LafargeHolcim in 2016. It took full control of the cement producer in 2017. It was then reported to be shortlisting potential buyers for the company in September 2017.

Halla Cement operates one cement plant at Okgye and three slag cement grinding plants. It has a cement production capacity of 7.6Mt/yr. It also runs 11 distribution centres in the country, consisting of seven coastal and four inland centres.

India: Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, has inaugurated JSW Cement’s plant at Salboni. The US$125m grinding plant has a production capacity of 2.4Mt/yr, according to the Press Trust of India. It started commercial production at the site in July 2017 with plans to manufacture Portland Slag Cement. The cement producer is already preparing upgrades at the unit including a US$15.6m captive power plant with a capacity of 18MW and a US$47m production capacity increase of 1.2Mt/yr.

India: KIC Metaliks plans to build a 300t/day slag cement grinding plant at its pig iron plant at Raturia in the Bardhaman district of West Bengal. The project is part of a wider upgrade at the site to turn it into a steel plant, according to Projects Today. Other upgrades a direct reduced iron kilns, a sinter plant, a rolling mill, a pulverised coal injection plant and a captive power plant. The upgrade plans are valued at around US$93m. The company is awaiting environmental clearance for the project.