News

The Wirtgen Group has invested in excess of ZAR50 million (US$3.14 million) into a new facility for its Wirtgen South Africa (SA) subsidiary. Despite the current economic slowdown, Heinrich Schulenburg, MD of Wirtgen SA, believes the investment into a new facility signals the German group’s confidence in the long-term business prospects for southern Africa.

The project is in line with the Wirtgen Group’s on-going investments into several capital projects in the global market. Speaking at the official op

Materials washing specialist CDE Global has announced that it has increased its product assembly space by 32% to allow for the production of 60 additional machines every year. CDE Global designs and manufactures materials washing and classification equipment with applications in a variety of sectors; sand and aggregates, construction waste recycling, mining, specialist industrial sands and environmental. The regional office network has a presence in Kolkata (India), Sao Paulo (Brazil) and Cary (North Americ

The European Parts Centre for the Doosan Heavy range of excavators, wheel loaders and articulated dump trucks, based at Leipzig in Germany, is currently achieving a claimed industry-leading fill rate of an average of 96.6% compared to the typical figure of 95% in the rest of the industry.

Providing 24-hour delivery of parts to Doosan dealers and customers door-to-door anywhere in Europe from a stock of over 43,000 parts, the 6000m² Doosan European Parts Centre is housed in a large warehouse facility op

The Mineral Products Association has published its fourth Annual Mineral Planning Survey (AMPS4) which covers the period to the end of 2014. It is based upon data for the whole of Great Britain provided in confidence by MPA members. Although the demand for UK aggregates continues to recover, this latest report brings into sharper focus the problems of declining reserves that were raised in previous surveys. Unless action is taken on updating and extending the coverage of mineral plans and speeding up the pl

Robert Nogaj has been named chief operating officer (COO) of Martin Engineering, the major US-based manufacturer of bulk material handling solutions. Nogaj will be responsible for all facets of the company’s business, including R&D, manufacturing, sales, marketing and finance. With 22 years of experience in bulk materials handling, he has previously served Martin Engineering as vice president of operations from 2001-2015.

“Our mission for the coming years will be to keep streamlining our business for con

Nigeria's Dangote Cement has announced a cut in cement prices to NGN 1,300 (€5.85/US$6.53) per unit from NGN 1,800 before, with the stated intent of making cement affordable for all user segments.

This follows the opening of new production lines totalling 9 million tonnes/year in Ogun and Okpella Edo states.

Regional sales director Johnson Olaniyi said the company will ensure block moulders can get quality cement as part of efforts to thwart building collapses

In the third quarter ended December 2015, India-based JK Lakshmi Cement improved its total income year-on-year from INR 5.63 billion (€74.27 million/US$82.89 million) to INR 6.64 billion.

owever, it swung from a net profit of INR 184.8 million to a net loss of INR 36.70 million.

The company reduced its losses at profit after tax (PAT) level from INR 149.5 million recorded in the July-September 2015 quarter to INR 36.7 million in the period under review.

It saw its loss at profit before tax (PBT) l

JK Cements posted an on-year rise in its total stand-alone income from INR 7.99 billion (€105.43 million/US$117.66 million) to INR 9.03 billion during October-December 2015.

Its stand-alone net profit rose 2% from INR 167.3 million to INR 170.9 million.

Also, total expenses of the India-based company in the period increased from INR 7.39 billion to INR 8.16 billion.

The Portuguese holding company Semapa, with interests in the cement and pulp and paper business, saw profits drop by 27.7% in 2015 to €81.5 million (US$90.96 million).

The performance was affected by the reduction of the stake held in Portucel and increased taxes on profits.

The turnover rose by 6.7% to €2.132 billion and sales overseas reached some €1.611 billion, which accounted for 75.6% of the turnover.

Ebitda was estimated at €478.2 million, a 16.6% rise from 2014.

Saudi Cement is suspending production at a 3,500tonne/day clinker kiln until market conditions improve.

It has also put off plans to replace three existing cement mills with two newer, more productive units, which would have added 600,000tonnes of annual milling capacity.

The company stated that it already has 4 million tonnes of clinker in inventory, so the shut-down should not affect financial results.

The local community of Mon State, Myanmar, has raised concerns over the development of a US$400 million cement facility and an adjoining coal power plant in the state, it is reported.

Local Mawlamyine Cement (MCL), a joint venture of Pacific Link Cement Industries and Siam Cement Group (SCG), is developing that facility, which is due to be launched in the middle of 2016.

However, reports says that local residents claim that MCL has not provided information on the facility to villagers, who fear negati

Dangote Cement in Nigeria has started construction of a 3 million mt cement plant in Okpella, Edo State for US$500 million (€448.02 million), in addition to the 6 million mt project in Itori, Ogun State. The plant uses a standard design and will directly employ over 5,000 people and create thousands more indirect jobs. Group MD and CEO Devakumar V G Edwin said the project will boost Dangote's domestic and international market share and avoid consumption gaps.

FLSmidth has signed an EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) contract with a value of more than €200 million with the Algerian cement producer SARL Amouda Ingineering for the supply of a greenfield cement plant in Algeria.

The plant will be located in El Beida (Laghouat), approximately 400km from the capital Algiers.

The order includes engineering, equipment supplies, construction, commissioning and training. Once completed, the cement plant will have a capacity of 6,000tonnes/day.

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