Titan plans three-fold increase of green products portfolio

Titan Cement announced the arrival of its 2022 annual report this week. Its overall customer focus will see the producer shift its operations to produce even more green products. In its current portfolio, 19.5 per cent of its products are green, but by 2030 Titan Cement aims to raise this to 62 per cent.

"We aim to continue building great teams, maintain profitable growth and become one of the safest, most customer-friendly, innovative, digitalised and green businesses in the construction materials industry," said Marcel Cobuz, chairman of Titan's Group Executive Committee.

Going about this ambitious target will see Titan invest heavily in breakthrough technologies. It has two high-level projects in this respect. RECODE aims to capture CO₂, and produce value-added chemicals and materials that can be used in cement and concrete production. In addition, the H₂CEM project will see hydrogen used as a climate-neutral fuel for cement production in the coming years.

In alignment with its circular economy goals, the selection of sustainably sourced raw materials and fuels will be a high priority for the cement producer. Titan is looking to innovate products using its proprietary fly ash beneficiation technology. Approximately 55 per cent of the group's total clinker production is currently covered by 'zero waste-to-landfill' certification. The group's clinker-to-cement ratio has fallen from 81 per cent in 2021 to 78.4 per cent in 2022, while alternative fuels now account for 7.7 per cent of the group's fuel content in cement production.

Regional focus
The US market has already seen the transformation to limestone cement ASTM Type IL from ordinary Portland cement (OPC) production. Fly ash volumes rose during 2022 in the USA despite continuous supply constraints. The US operations showed a material improvement in the fuel mix, in the clinker-to-cement ratio, driven by the conversion to Type IL cement production and reduction in Scope 1 CO₂ emissions by nine per cent. 

Titan has been investing in its western European operations by upgrading the cement mill optimiser technology for its two vertical roller mills at the Thessaloniki plant and adding a new ball mill and real-time kiln optimiser solution at the Kamari plant. Cement exports were mainly directed to the group's America and European terminals. The Turkish operations also started producing Type IL cement for the US market.

Meanwhile, the Beni Suef plant, Egypt, launched its own low-carbon product in 2022, in addition to increasing its alternative fuel and thermal substitution rate. Masonry cement has now been introduced as well in Egypt and Greece.

Bulgarian operations saw a 48 per cent increase in the use of alternative fuels in 2022. Electrical energy was also reduced by 14 per cent compared to 2021, helped by a new raw meal warehouse and homogenisation silo. The consumption of natural gas in the cement mills similarly reduced by 60 per cent. Meanwhile, the Sharrcem plant in Kosovo introduced low clinker content products, and in Serbia a new type of eco-efficient cement (CEM II/C-M (V-L) 32.5R) was introduced.

Meeting targets
Increasing Titan's green products by three-fold in the next seven years will need a big transformation. The aim is to offer more innovative, decarbonised and cost-effective materials and solutions. Titan will develop digital solutions that facilitate customer interaction and launch an innovative, green complementary product portfolio. The benefits of this approach are already evident with a contract in 2022 to build several large data centre projects with a major international company, contributing to its greenhouse gas reduction goals with Titan's Type IL lower-carbon cements and its proprietary mix designs. Furthermore, in Greece, Titan's contribution to the Ellinkon megaproject to transform Athens airport into a sustainable smart 'city within a city' will see low-carbon pozzolanic cement CEM IV/B (P) 32.5N SR developed for greener construction goals.

Mr Cobuz said, "With sustainable solutions and products approaching 20 per cent of our sales we are adapting and transforming our portfolio at a good pace." 

The company has targeted being the first to provide innovative products and solutions for cement customers. It has introduced commercialised, novel, lower carbon cement types in the markets of Albania, Egypt, Greece, Kosovo, Serbia and Turkey. Now it aims to accelerate innovation of its green product offerings using low carbon substitutes for clinker, including demolition waste and other cementitious materials. Calcined clay cements with up to 40 per cent less CO₂ than OPC are being developed. 

"Overall, in 2022 the shift to lower-carbon cement types reduced the weighted average gross footprint by 21.7kg CO₂/t of cementitious product," reports Titan Cement.