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Releasing the figures in a financial statement, Chinese cement and clinker producer DongWu said the national cement industry in H1 saw increases in both sales volumes and prices. However it added that the H1 2019 growth rate is lower than that for the first half of 2018.

DongWu says that growth in demand and compression in supply mean that the country’s cement and clinker stocks are at a medium-low level overall, ensuring that cement market prices are still at an "historically good" level.

It added:

The UK-based Mineral Products Association (MPA) has published a new guide, ‘Avoiding Contact with Moving Machinery and Isolation’ to assist supervisors and managers on site.

MPA's Health & Safety Committee identified contact with moving machinery and isolation (including stored energy) as one of 'The Fatal 6' high consequence hazards that have been the main cause of fatalities over the last decade.

By consolidating industry best practice and guidance, raising awareness using a variety of media inclu

Metso continues developing the global production footprint in its Minerals Consumables business area by reviewing manufacturing capabilities in the EMEA region. As part of the initiative, the Finnish quarrying and mining equipment giant is starting personnel negotiations to review the implications at rubber and poly-met wear part production units in Ersmark and Trelleborg, Sweden.

Indian off-highway machine tyre giant BKT says the new carbon black plant within its Bhuj, western India, production site will run at 100% of its capacity by 2021.

At the end of the first quarter of financial year 2019 (1 March - 31 May), the plant had a carbon black production output of 60,000 tonnes. This was due to increase to 80,000 tonnes in the second quarter, and will reach its full production capacity of 130,000 tonnes by 2021.

Around 50% of the carbon black produced at the new plant is being

JCB set new records for turnover, machine sales and earnings in 2018 as global markets for construction equipment and agricultural machinery remained strong.

Headquartered in Staffordshire, England, the major global off-highway equipment manufacturer revealed that its sales turnover in 2018 rose by 22% to £4.1bn (€4.52bn) (2017: £3.35bn - €3.69bn), while machine sales increased to 96,246 (2017: 75,693). JCB earnings on an EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation & Amortisation) basis rose by

FLSmidth, the Denmark-headquartered global cement and mining products and solutions company, and ATP Real Estate have selected COBE as the winner of the architecture contest for FLSmidth’s new HQ. The winning proposal is said to honour the preservation-worthy buildings, while also creating new and modern spaces for workspace collaboration.

Since 1956, the home of FLSmidth’s global business has been Vigerslev Allé 77 in Valby, Copenhagen. The preservation-worthy buildings, designed by architect Palle Sue

SAMPYO Cement has joined the World Cement Association (WCA) as a corporate member.

The company is a leading South Korean cement producer established in 1957.

SAMPYO Cement maintains an annual production capacity of 11m tonnes per anuum (tpa) which is shipped to customers across South Korea, in addition to the USA, Africa and Japan. The company has received a cement quality assessment license from the Ministry of Construction of Japan, and now exports over 200,000 tpa to this market.

The firm also u

UK-based carbon negative aggregate specialist Carbon8 Aggregates has changed its name to O.C.O Technology Limited, with immediate effect.

The move also means its award-winning aggregate, previously known as C8Agg, has been renamed M-LS (short for Manufactured LimeStone).

M-LS is created using O.C.O Technology’s Accelerated Carbonation Technology (ACT) process. M-LS is versatile product that has a multitude of uses in the construction industry.

It uses waste carbon dioxide gas to treat a wide range

CASE Construction Equipment dealer Dennis Barnfield Ltd. has recently completed the sale of 12 excavators to Midlands and North-West England-based Ruttle Plant Hire. This represents Ruttle’s third order of multiple CASE excavators in the last year, the latest of which is destined for the company’s general fleet of machines.

“The quality and reliability of our existing CASE fleet was the driver behind our decision to purchase these 12 excavators,” states Gareth Ruttle, director, Ruttle Plant Hire, whose

Building materials production in France was mixed in the first half of 2019, according to new figures from Unicem, the national construction materials union.

Production dipped 1% in Q2 2019 after an encouraging 10% increase in the year’s first quarter.

Aggregates production in the 1 April to 30 June 2019 period fell 4.3% from the preceding three-month period, and 1.8% compared to Q2 2018. Despite this trend, Unicem report that aggregates activity rose 2.5% year-on-year in the first half 2019. Ready-mi

PPC, the South African cement giant, says its EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation & Amortisation) rose by 5%-10% in the four months to July 2019. The rise was posted despite the company’s cement sales falling 10-15% in Southern Africa. PPC note that average cement prices in the Southern Africa region, including Botswana, rose 7%-8% during the analysed period.

A company operational update statement said that domestic cement demand remains constrained due to a “subdued demand environment”.

Prichard’s, a leading provider of construction and support services based in Llantrisant, South Wales has purchased a Cat 950GC wheeled loader in a deal with Finning UK & Ireland. The machine was said to be chosen for its manoeuvrability, excellent visibility, and fuel saving benefits.

Dean Thomas, plant manager at Prichard’s Llantrisant branch, was looking to expand their current fleet, and add a versatile wheeled loader that could be used in many different applications. The machine needed to be suitab