Concrete Plants, Equipment & Applications

In 2013, cement production in Italy fell by 12% year-on-year to 23.1 million tonnes. Cement sales fell by 15.1% to 21.7 million tonnes. In 2014 a drop of 8% is expected, according to Aitec, the Italian cement association.

Ekokon group has opened a nano-cement plant in the UAE.

The plant will make silicate cement with mineral additives. The group has started building similar plants in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Indonesia. It plans to open over ten enterprises.

French construction materials company Garandeau has acquired Carrières d'Ambazac. The family company, based in Haute-Vienne, comprises three entities: Ambazac Béton, Carrières d'Ambazac and Ambazac Transports.

French group Unibéton (Italcementi Group) has inaugurated a concrete plant in Barentin (Seine-Maritime), France, which has a production capacity of 50m³/hour. Situated close to the future Austreberthe viaduct, the site will supply the construction project, which requires 10,000m³ of concrete.

The plant, which complements the 32 sites already located in the North-West, is focused around automation and respect for the environment.

Lafarge Cement might spend between US$250 million (€184.15 million) and $300 million to build a new manufacturing facility in Zimbabwe.

In addition, the company is also seeking for feasible limestone deposits to feed the proposed cement plant.

No further details were revealed regarding the project.

HeidelbergCement is preparing to sell its building products business, reports the Financial Times.

In 2013, the business recorded sales of €1.1 billion, down 10%.

In the latest business report, the company announced plans to sell the building products unit in the US, Canada and the UK to reduce debts.

Cilas, the joint venture set up between Lafarge-Algérie and businessman Abdennour Souakri, has awarded the contract to build the new Djamoura cement works at Biskra to Chinese firm Sinoma.
Sinoma has also been tasked with upgrading and renovating the grinder at the Zahana (Mascara) cement plant owned by the GICA group.
An initial €296.41 million (DZD 32 billion) will be made available for the Djamoura site, which will employ 600 personnel. The plant's production capacities on its completion in early 2016

Semen Indonesia will reportedly take at least six months to complete the acquisition of a cement plant in Bangladesh. The Bangladeshi plant will have an estimated annual capacity of 600,000tonnes-1 million tonnes, according to the president director of state-owned cement producer Dwi Soetjipto.
Dwi refused to reveal the value of the Bangladeshi deal but mentioned that it will not cost as much as an earlier deal in Vietnam, where Semen Indonesia spent US$ 157 million to buy a 70% stake in Thang Long Cement

The formula for making concrete: water, cement and aggregates, seems simple, but concrete manufacture is a complex process. Developing various mixes for concrete requires advanced scientific skills, with the quality of the cement and aggregates and the dosage and proportions just some of the variables that influence the properties of concrete.

Likewise, the equipment for producing concrete has become more sophisticated over the years with precision measurement of the ingredients now standard on most mac