SCG Cement and Green Solution, a unit of Siam Cement Group, is continuing to develop low-carbon cement, allocating an additional budget of 1 billion baht amid economic challenges that will slow domestic cement consumption.
"The company is developing a process to produce the third generation of low-carbon cement, aiming to replace cement used for construction in the future," Manasit Sarigaphuti, chief innovation and technology officer at SCG, said at 2025 Intercem Asia, an international conference for the cement industry.
SCG, the first low-carbon cement developer and manufacturer in Thailand and Southeast Asia, is implementing this pilot project in Saraburi.
The third generation of low-carbon cement is designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, notably carbon dioxide, by 40-50%, he said.
Development of the new product is expected to be completed within the next two years, said Mr Manasit.
The company has set an annual target to produce 70,000 tonnes of third-generation cement.
"We want to produce low-carbon cement to serve constructors and housing developers who want to use environmentally friendly materials," Mr Manasit said.
In the long term, the company aims to develop low-carbon cement to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 90-100%, he said.
The cement industry currently accounts for 7-8% of global carbon dioxide emissions.
Cement is among the industries which face mounting pressure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The EU is adopting the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) in a transitional phase, which requires importers of iron and steel, aluminium, cement, fertiliser, electricity and hydrogen to report greenhouse gas emissions embedded in their imports without being subject to financial payments or adjustments.
Importers have to pay a levy for CBAM certificates from Jan 1, 2026.
In addition to stricter environmental standards, the Thai cement industry is facing the impact of a sluggish economy and weak consumer purchasing power, which is hitting the construction sector.
These circumstances will limit the growth of the cement market in Thailand.
SCG, which runs five cement plants in Thailand with installed production capacity of 25 million tonnes a year, exports 1 million tonnes of its product to Hawaii in the US.
The company believes the impact of Washington's reciprocal tariffs on its business will be minimal because exports to America represented only 1% of total sales in 2024.
However, SCG may encounter some indirect impact once the tariff policy takes effect after its 90-day pause, during which countries will negotiate with the US to solve trade imbalances.