News

French cement producer Ciments Français (Italcementi) has posted turnover of €1.83 billion for the first half of 2013, down 4.2% on the same six months of 2012. The firm is attributing the reduced turnover to a poor exchange rate and a fall in activity. Turnover fell in all zones except Asia, with the biggest declines seen in France/Belgium, Bulgaria, Spain and Morocco. On a like-for-like basis and at a constant exchange rate, turnover rose in Egypt, Kazakhstan, Kuwait and Thailand. The group invested some

Russia needs around 20 new cement plants, ten glass works, over 30 enterprises producing non-metallic materials, 15 heat insulation-producing plants and 15 concrete goods plants in order to cover the deficit of building materials on the market, according to investment and consulting company SMPRO. The reconstruction of around 200 existing concrete goods plants is also necessary, says SMPRO. The required investments are said to have not been calculated yet. Different measures of state support are planned to

In France, plaster industries recycled 50,000tonnes of waste in 2012. Plaster industries estimates the volume of plaster-based waste at 350,000tonnes: either construction waste such as the 50,000tonnes cycled to date or waste coming from building sites. Waste from selective demolition, however, is currently not recycled.

The French competition authority has approved the acquisition of terracotta brick specialist Imerys Structure by cooperative brick manufacturer Bouyer Leroux. Following an in-depth examination of the acquisition, the authority has ruled that the group must sell 25,000tonnes of wall bricks at cost price to two competitors or a wholesaler active in the distribution and trade networks in Aquitaine each year for a five-year period. As for the new entity's quasi-monopoly on the manufacturing of partition bricks

Bell Equipment UK has appointed Andy Wilkinson as sales manager for the north-east of England, reinforcing the company’s team as its new E-series articulated dump trucks are launched into the UK. For the past two and a half years, he was territory manager for Ritchie Bros Auctioneers, giving him an insight into the current state of plant equipment in the UK. Prior to that he was regional sales manager for JCB Attachments. The north-east territory, extending from the Scottish borders to County Lincolnshire,

A UK Mineral Products Association (MPA) survey results shows a significant improvement in sales of aggregates, ready mixed concrete and asphalt in the second quarter. Following a poor first quarter, Q2 sales volumes increased by 14% for crushed rock aggregates; 9% for sand and gravel aggregates; 18% for ready-mixed concrete and 9% for asphalt, all compared with the same period of 2012. MPA says the figures represent welcome improvements but also reflect some carry-over of work from the first quarter due to

Lafarge’s second-quarter figures show a surge in profit in the absence of the Greek impairment charges of last year, although operating income and EBITDA were down on last year after a fall in sales and volumes were affected by adverse weather conditions. The company says it aims to achieve additional EBITDA of €650 million in the year through its performance and innovation measures, and it also expects to reduce net debt to below €10 billion in 2013, and below €9 billion in 2014. “Our results in the second

CDE Global has appointed Martin Jackson as global custom care manager to develop the suite of after-sales services offered by CDE through the custom care department for CDE Global, CDEnviro and CDE do Brasil. Having gained almost 16 years’ of experience in field-based services including the mechanical and electrical engineering industries, he joins the custom care team to take the lead in the strategic development of the Custom Care Department across all operations and throughout the company’s global partne

The aerated concrete block plant, controlled by Denmark's H+H, located in the Volosovo district of the Leningrad region of Russia, accounts for 30% of the market in north-west. The enterprise manufactured over 330,000tonnes of products in 2012. The designed capacity is 400,000m3/year.