News

The Latvian producer of dry construction mixes, Sakret, has signed a franchise agreement with the Russia's Sakret Russland to build an construction material production plant in Samara, Russia. The new plant will have an annual capacity of 200,000tonnes. Sakret Russland will sell production output mainly in Samara and neighbouring regions and targets a 15%-20% market share. The deal with Sakret Russland is the first step of Sakret's targeted development and expansion plan of Sakret's franchise network in the

Metso will rebuild a complete crushing and screening plant for an aggregates producer Sablières Malet in Southern France. The new plant will replace an old plant destroyed in fire in 2012. The value of the order is approximately €8 million. When completed, the plant capacity will be 850tonnes/hour, and will be fed by trains from different deposits. The feeding capacity will be 1,200tonnes/hour and it will produce different sized aggregates for road and concrete. The supply consists of a complete plant inclu

Hanson is taking full control of Midland Quarry Products (MQP), a County Leicestershire, England-based asphalt and quarrying company. It already owns 50% of the company and is taking ownership of Tarmac's stake in the business. Hanson is exercising its contractual pre-emption right to buy the shares, while the UK Competition Commission required the sale of Tarmac's stake to clear its joint venture with Lafarge. Hanson has the right to match the price agreed with Hope Valley Holdings and pre-empt any sale of

Swiss-based multi-national building materials producer Holcim has announced that Wolfgang Reitzle will take over as chairman in 2014. To ensure continuity, current chairman Rolf Soiron has been proposed for re-election at the annual general meeting of 17 April 2013. Also at the meeting the board of directors will propose the election of Hanne Birgitte Breinbjerg Sørensen and Anne Wade to the board of directors of Holcim. Sørensen is currently the CEO of Maersk Tankers based in Copenhagen, Denmark, one of th

The two Liebherr wheeled loaders, the L 506 Compact and L 576, have received the Red Dot design award in the Product Design category. The award is one of the most prestigious international design competitions, and the winners are decided by a high-ranking jury of renowned experts, who demand the highest standards of creativity, innovation and product quality. Experts from various countries selected the prizewinners of 2013 from a total of 4,662 designs submitted in the various categories.

Banner Contracts has boosted its fleet of Terex Finlay machines with a new C1540 cone crusher, supplied by Finlay Plant Northern. The delivery of the C1450 cone crusher increases Banner Contracts’ Terex Finlay fleet to eight machines in total. Capable of processing up to 150tonnes/hour, the C1540 has a built-in single deck pre-screen, which allows Banner Contracts to process material, removing the fines before it reaches the cone. This means the company can remove any undersized product beforehand, to incre

The Mineral Products Association (MPA) has welcomed measures in today’s Budget which taken as a package help boost the outlook for the mineral products and construction sectors. Particularly welcome is the decision to freeze the indexation of the Aggregates Levy until April 2014 and the decision to introduce the Climate Change Levy mineralogical and metallurgical exemption for energy intensive industries such as cement and lime. Nigel Jackson, chief executive MPA, said: “MPA has lobbied hard on both of thes

A team of pumps from Tsurumi are working at one of Europe’s largest open air copper mines to keep it safe. Operated by Hellenic Copper Mines, the 4,000-year-old Skouriotissa copper mine in Cyprus is one of the oldest operational mines in the world. Integral to the day-to-day operation of the mine, the pumps remove groundwater, rainwater and highly acidic liquids (pH 2) unearthed by explosive excavation. The pumps have been working fault-free at the site for two years and counting. Pumping muddy water with l

Reports say that the ultimate reason for the collapse of the concrete water tower in Jyväskylä in Finland in early November 2012 was delayed hydrogen embrittlement in the steel bars strengthening the concrete beam connecting the tower's floor elements and supporting the upright walls of the water tank. According to the Safety Investigation Authority there was no indication of any material faults or production faults in the steel that was used in the bars. Apparently the hydrogen in the steel structures was