Finland: Saint-Gobain has chosen Bravida as the electrical contractor for a slag processing plant it is building at Raahe in North Ostrobothnia. The project, located in the Port of Raahe, is scheduled to be completed during the first half of 2025.

The plant is designed to take steel slag supplied by SSAB and convert it into binders that can be used in Saint-Gobain products, such as its Weber brand mortars. SSAB says that the process is the first of its kind in the world and will enable 100% of the slag created in its steelmaking process to be recycled. Saint-Gobain and SSAB have been developing the process together for five years. The slag processing plant is scheduled for commissioning in 2025.

In a previous announcement, Gunnar Lauren, Senior R&D Manager at Saint-Gobain Finland, described the project. “When we studied SSAB’s manufacturing process, we noticed that the end step in the processing of special steel has similarities to the production of special cement. We can replace the slag created as a side stream of steel cleaning to replace, for example, the special cement used in Weber dry mortars.”

Japan/Australia: Mitsubishi UBE Cement Corporation (MUCC) has invested US$5m in MCi Carbon, becoming the fourth major Japanese investor alongside ITOCHU Corporation, Mizuho Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank. The partnership includes a collaboration agreement focusing on mineral carbonation technology and a three-way memorandum of understanding with ITOCHU Corporation.

MUCC will use MCi's technology to decarbonise cement production in Japan through CO₂ emissions abatement and development of low-carbon materials. The investment supports the commissioning of MCi's 'Myrtle' mineral carbonation demonstration plant in Australia.

MCi Carbon’s mineral carbonation process combines captured CO2 with a mineral feedstock, including industrial wastes like steel slag, mine tailings or raw quarried minerals, to produce magnesium carbonate, calcium carbonate and amorphous silica. Third parties can then use these materials to make cement, concrete, wallboard, papers, glass and other industrial products.

UK: Construction firm Skanska is using 3000 planks of precast concrete made with 50% ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBFS) for the upcoming 105 Victoria Street commercial development in Westminster, dubbed ‘London’s most sustainable office building.’ Engineering firm Laing O’Rourke will design and produce the planks at its Worksop, Nottinghamshire, concrete plant. Construction Management Magazine News has reported that the 105 Victoria Street building will include 2000m² of green space and terraces.

India: A study at the DPG Institute of Technology and Management in Gurugram has investigated the effects of blending different concentrations of silica fumes to ground granulated blast furnace slag-based (GGBFS) geopolymer concrete. Findings reported in the Nature concluded that the addition of 10% silica fumes ‘significantly’ enhanced the durability and strength of the resulting concrete.