2024 Is Here, So What Will It Bring?

It is 2024, and another new year has us looking ahead at what might be in store for the construction materials and cement industries. If you gauge a year by production volume, you could say 2023 was a bit of a disappointment. A look at the latest cement production numbers from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reveals that shipments for…

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The White House’s Infrastructure Goals Risk Disruption – By the White House

By Louis Baer For Americans to start seeing evidence of the Biden Administration’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) taking shape in their hometowns, the construction industry will need building materials to do the work. Should a newly proposed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) particulate matter (PM) standard take effect in the next few weeks, those materials might not be readily…

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2024 Economic Report

This Year Should Provide A Transition To Stronger Growth For Construction And Thus For Cement Production. By Mark S. Kuhar After a year in which the economy and starts slowed considerably, the coming year should provide a transition to stronger growth for construction, according to the Dodge Construction Network’s (DCN) Outlook 2024 economic report. But before we get to that,…

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Finding Value in Carbon

A Calgary-Based Company Is Turning CO2 Emissions And Industrial Byproducts Into High-Quality Supplementary Cementitious Materials. by Jonathan Rowland Carbon capture is recognized as a key element in most pathways to a decarbonized cement industry. As the Portland Cement Association (PCA) noted in its 2021 Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality, carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) “directly avoids a significant portion of…

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Sustainability Spotlight: St. Marys Cement Charlevoix Plant

With the use of alternative fuels and lower-carbon clinker replacements, St Marys Cement is reducing carbon emissions while increasing energy efficiency at its Charlevoix, Mich., plant, according to the Portland Cement Association’s latest “Sustainability Spotlight.” To achieve carbon neutrality, cement plants are combining a variety of tactics to cut emissions and be responsible environmental stewards. St Marys Cement, part of…

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PCA Elects New Board Leadership for 2024

PCA 250

The Portland Cement Association (PCA) announced new leadership for its board of directors after holding elections at its last meeting of 2023. President and CEO of Buzzi Unicem USA Massimo Toso was elected chair, while Monica Manolas, president of Ash Grove East, was elected vice chair. She is the first woman in the 21st century to be elected to the…

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Mitchell Milestone

Nestled In Limestone-Rich Indiana, A New Flagship Plant Leaves No Doubt That Heidelberg Materials North America Is All In On Negating Carbon Dioxide Emissions. By Don Marsh On a scale of new clinker capacity – and environmental metrics tuned to carbon-minded market and regulator sentiments – no North American and few cement plants globally will match Heidelberg Materials’ rebuilt Mitchell,…

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Shrinking the Environmental Footprint

According to Command Alkon, decarbonization of the cement and construction industry is essential to reach the goals set out in the 2015 Paris Agreement, which seeks to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels. This includes a goal to reach net zero global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Importantly,…

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PCA on a Roll

The Portland Cement Association (PCA) has been busy lately. Following an impressive showing at ConExpo-Con/Agg in Las Vegas, and a very successful IEEE/PCA trade show in Dallas, PCA has received the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) and U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) 2023 Energy Star Partner of the Year Award. It’s the fourth consecutive year PCA has been recognized by…

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