World Cement - July 2020

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DAVID BIZLEY, EDITOR
3 July 2020 World Cement
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Digital Editorial Assistant: Imogen Poole
In a symbolic gesture of recovery,
France’s famous Eiffel Tower has opened
once more to visitors after its longest
closure since the Second World War.
Things won’t be going quite back to normal
pre-pandemic conditions: the tower, which
usually sees around 7 million visitors a year,
will be limiting access to just the second floor,
restricting guest numbers, and enforcing the use of face-coverings
for anyone over the age of 11. France isn’t the only country in Europe
easing restrictions; just in time for the peak holiday season, countries
across the continent are beginning to remove bans on travel, both
internal and domestic. The UK, for example, recently announced the
re-opening of hotels, pubs, and restaurants – there are caveats and
rules about exactly how these services can operate, but for many
businesses in the hospitality sector, it was a case of re-opening now or
never.
There might be further delays for would-be transatlantic travellers,
however. At the time of writing, the EU is still considering whether or
not to open the borders to travellers from the US and other countries
in the Americas. With many European nations hoping to restart their
tourism and hospitality sectors, the EU is expected to draw up a ‘safe
list’ of countries that meet various health standards. According to
the BBC, reports from Brussels show that infection rate would be
amongst the key criteria and that travel to/from the EU and countries
such as Brazil and the US would likely remain restricted for the time
being. US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, struck an optimistic
note, stating that he was “very confident” a solution could be found.
“We certainly don’t want to reopen in a way that jeopardises the
United States from people travelling here and we certainly don’t want
to cause problems anyplace else,” he added before mentioning that
the US would work “to get the global travel back in place”.
So then, with travel becoming a major topic, it’s
perhaps fitting that this issue features the 2020 edition of
World Cement’s World Review. This annual review of the global
cement industry provides coverage of new projects and upgrades
on a plant-by-plant, country-by-country basis. Starting on p. 48, the
World Review is divided into the following regions: Africa and The
Middle East, Asia Pacific, Europe and the CIS, North America, and
South & Central America. Each section comes with a brief economic
overview of a selection of countries in the region before moving on to
the project updates. From Algeria, to Australia, to Azerbaijan, we’ve
got the whole world covered.
Before you dive into the issue, I’ll leave you with one more piece of
positive news: a human trial of a new coronavirus vaccine has begun
the UK with hopes that it will be available for distribution from early
2021. With 120 vaccine programmes underway across the globe, a
post-pandemic world is coming closer every day.