SsangYong C&E to invest $616 mn in eco-friendly facilities

South Korea's cement maker SsangYong C&E Co. is investing 800 billion won ($616 million) in facilities to reduce environmental pollution in the cement production process. The goal is to achieve the world's first coal-free cement production by 2030.

SsangYong C&E announced on Monday it plans to invest 140 billion won ($108 million) in fuel replacement and productivity enhancement by 2030, 160 billion won ($123 million) in dust collector performance improvement and 500 billion won ($385 million) in process improvements for nitrogen oxide reduction.

This plan is aimed at reducing carbon emissions by more than 25% by 2030 compared to 2018 levels and achieving a 53% reduction by 2050.

The company will initially invest in finding ways to replace fossil fuels in the calcination process, which is the process that extracts the primary raw material, clinker, from limestone using fossil fuels, resulting in significant carbon emissions.

The company completed the first phase of investment last year, investing 220 billion won ($170 million) to build relevant equipment and infrastructure, increasing the fossil fuel replacement rate to over 25%. It plans to invest an additional 140 billion won ($108 million) to further reduce fossil fuel usage.

SsangYong C&E will also invest in securing high-performance dust collectors to increase the dust collection rate of cement powder emitted in the manufacturing process to over 80-90%. It will introduce specialized carbon capture technology for cement production to achieve additional carbon reduction.

Additionally, it will increase investments in facilities to minimize air pollution during the cement production process, including the sequential introduction of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) and other reduction equipment aimed at reducing nitrogen oxide emissions, one of the major factors in fine dust production. The goal is to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by over 30% from current levels.

"Through large-scale investments for environmental improvement, we will actively work toward achieving carbon neutrality while minimizing environmental impact," the CEO of SsangYong C&E Lee Hyun-Joon said.

Write to Yu-Rim Oh at our@hankyung.com