News

France-based Italcementi subsidiary Ciments Francais has announced a drop in sales and profit in the first half of 2011, compared to the same period last year, due to financial challenges. The company recorded a turnover of €2.04billion, down 1.8% on 2010, and a recurring EBITDA of €386million, a drop of 12.8% on last year.

Lafarge and Anglo Amercian’s subsidiary Tarmac are reported to be planning to sell off £600million (€682million) worth of assets in order to complete their planned merger. The companies are reported to be selling quarries, cement plants and ready mixed concrete facilities in order to satisfy the concerns of the Office of Fair Trading in the UK. The joint venture is expected to submit plans for the restructuring to the authority next month in a bid to gain approval for the deal.

Demand for aggregates and cement in the UK rose in the first quarter of the year, according to new figures released by the Mineral Products Association. Nonetheless, the association has said it has concerns over market activity in the next 18 months and raised doubts about official construction and GDP forecasts. Aggregates sales volumes in total were 6% up in the first quarter compared with the first quarter of 2010, with growth evident in sand and gravel rather than crushed rock sales, while cement, ready

Lafarge’s Spanish cement subsidiary Lafarge Cementos has announced that it has appoint Luis Ferrer Vidal as its new sales director. Vidal takes on the role from Patrick David who has moved to a development role within Lafarge. In his new role, Vidal will also be part of the management board for Lafarge’s Spanish operations.

Italcementi has posted profits of €187.8million for the first half of the year, up from €81.8million in the same period in 2010 partly due to the sale of assets in Turkey. Sales for the first six months remained relatively stable at €245billion, compared to €2.4billion in 2010. Nonetheless, EBITDA was down 18% on 2010 levels at €372million due to increased energy costs and instability in the Egyptian market following the political issues there.

Cemex is celebrating completion of its five year contract to supply construction materials to the expansion project at Alicante Airport in Spain. The company started working on the scheme in 2006 and has now supplied the site with 120,000m3 of concrete and 95,000tonnes of cement. The company was selected for the project by architect Bruce Fairbanks on the basis of Cemex’s ability to supply materials that met the stringent demands for the energy efficient design.

The majority share in Poland-based concrete and steel producer Kombinat Budowlany is to be sold off by the Polish government by auction next month. An 85% stake in the state-owned company is to be sold on 5 September but offers from interested parties must be placed by the end of this month. The government has set the opening price for the company at €1.07million.

Cemex is celebrating completion of its five year contract to supply construction materials to the expansion project at Alicante Airport in Spain. The company started working on the scheme in 2006 and has now supplied the site with 120,000m3 of concrete and 95,000tonnes of cement. The company was selected for the project by architect Bruce Fairbanks on the basis of Cemex’s ability to supply materials that met the stringent demands for the energy efficient design.

The UK-based Mineral Products Association has said that it welcomes the publication of the draft National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) but there is some concern about the details of it. The association said that and a number of initiatives it includes are essential to support economic growth. According to the MPA the policy also fits with the Localism Bill, which addressed the exclusion of minerals development from neighbourhood plans and third party rights of appeal which were essential measures to ens

Shareholders at Lafarge’s AGM yesterday cleared the way for participation in future meetings to be carried out electronically removing the need to physically travel to the event. This was one of 21 resolutions put to the shareholders vote during the meeting her in Paris, France. The shareholders also approved a dividend of €1 per share and a loyalty dividend of €1.1 per share to be paid in July, as well as the appointment of Baudouin Prot, who is director and CEO of BNP Paribas, to the Lafarge board of dire

Holcim has announced that it has appointed Bogdan Dobre as its new concrete and aggregates director for the Romanian region. Dobre will take over the post from Anastas Dimovski.

Major Cimpor shareholder Camargo Correa has said it has not ruled out launching a takeover bid for the company. Brazil-based Correa holds a 32.9% shareholding in Portuguese cement producer Cimpor.

Lack of orders this year and staff strikes have been cited as the cause of financial difficulties at Slovenia-based Vemont, despite recording a turnover of €9.8million in 2010. The company filed for bankruptcy last week. Staff working for the company have been striking because the company has not paid wages since January 2011.

Demand for aggregates in Poland reached 110million tonnes in the first six months of 2011 – up 6million tonnes on the same period last year due to increased road construction activity. Aggregate volumes for the full year of 2010 reached 200million tonnes but demand this year is expected to be between 215 and 220million tonnes.