News

German global building materials market giant HeidelbergCement has announced that Dr Bernd Scheifele will step down as chairman of the group’s management board after 15 years in the role, as part of a succession plan being implemented from early 2020.

Dr Scheifele will leave the managing board in February 2020 with Dr Dominik von Achten, the managing board’s current deputy chairman, replacing him in the top role. Dr Lorenz Näger will remain as HeidelbergCement’s chief financial officer until May 2022 whi

Longfloor, part of the UK-based Longcliffe Quarries group, has appointed Stuart Little as account manager.

Based in Hertfordshire, he will work primarily in London and the Home Counties, which Longfloor says are key markets for its liquid cement screed products.

Longfloor says the appointment will boost sales and technical back up to its stockists and screed contractors.

Little comes to Longfloor with a background in concrete and specialist cement products gained at Lafarge and Tarmac. He is a qual

Harrington Concrete and Quarries ULC has been fined €500,000 for breaches of health and safety legislation that resulted in the death of one of its employees.

Castlebar Circuit Court was told how, on 11 June 2015, quarry worker Joseph Harrington (no relation to his employer) was fatally injured when he fell into an inadequately guarded crusher at Carrowscoilta Quarry, near Ballyhaunis, in Co. Mayo, on the west coast of Ireland.

The prosecution was brought by Ireland’s Health and Safety Authority (HAS)

Building materials group HeidelbergCement says it expects worldwide demand for cement to increase further in 2019.

Announcing its Q4 and full-year 2018 results, the group said it particularly expects demand to increase in Indonesia, India, sub-Saharan Africa and North America.

The Germany-based manufacturer posted a 5% increase in revenue for full-year 2018 to €18.1bn (previous year: €17.3bn). HeidelbergCement attributes the rise in revenue to increased sales volumes in all business lines and success

Vulcan Materials, America’s largest producer of construction aggregates, saw its full year 2018 aggregates shipments increase 10%, led by double-digit growth in Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Tennessee and Texas. Fourth quarter aggregates shipments were also up 8% versus the prior year quarter. Daily shipping rates in October and November were slowed by Hurricane Michael and wet weather in Texas and a number of south-eastern markets. Strong shipment growth continued in Alabama, Arizona, Florida and I

The Institute of Quarrying (IQ) has launched its first ever industry-wide awards recognising the personal and professional excellence of people working in the mineral extractives sector.

The IQ Excellence Awards are intended to recognise the exceptional achievements of individuals, teams and projects across five UK regions: Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales, North England and South England. Each regional award winner automatically goes forward to the national excellence awards to compete for the overall

Magna Tyres Group is launching a new tyre designed for rigid dump trucks operating in demanding off-the-road (OTR) conditions.

The company says the M-RIGID is suitable for modern rigid dump trucks (RDTs) such as Caterpillar, Komatsu, Terex and Hitachi. It will be available from May 2019.

The product is a radial constructed 27.00R49 / 33.00R51 / 40.00R57 earthmover, with an E4 tread pattern. It is designed to offer optimal tyre performance/purchase price, resulting in a low cost price per hour.

The

SAMI TP has been named as the distributor for Metso's mobile crushing and screening products and related wear and spare parts and services for the aggregates market in northern and western France.

A subsidiary of BPM Group, SAMI TP specialises in the sale, rental, financing and repair of construction equipment. With eight main locations and a turnover of E52mn in 2018, SAMI TP is mainly active in the excavation and earthworks industries.

As distributor for northern and western France, SAMI TP will cov

Asia Pacific construction equipment demand will grow from being worth US$55 billion in 2018 to US$80 billion by 2025, while construction equipment shipments are expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 4% from 2019 to 2025, according to a new Global Market Insights (GMI) report.

Technological advancements, such as integration of intelligent machine parts, enhanced ropes, and automated machine functions, are, says the GMI report, also contributing to Asia Pacific (APAC) constructio

The Mineral Products Association (MPA) has published its 2018 Sustainable Development (SD) Report which demonstrates the mineral products industry’s commitment to action on sustainability and evidence-based reporting.

Sustainability is relevant to every aspect of the mineral products industry’s activities, from quarry development, and operation, dredging and recycling to manufacturing and transport, to the use of our products and materials and to the restoration of extraction sites.

The tough economic conditions in South Africa in 2018, and the resultant lack of meaningful construction projects, resulted in a significant decline in aggregates demand in the country. The construction sector – once a key part of South Africa’s economy – has been in decline over the past 10 years. According to Stats SA, the South African construction industry lost ZAR1.7 billion (about £93.7 million) in value since the fourth quarter of 2016, falling from ZAR110 billion to ZAR108 billion in the first quart

US company Argonics has launched new technology for OTR (off the road) tyres that is designed to protect sidewalls from punctures and other damage in harsh quarrying environments.
The Argonics OTR Sidewall Protector is made from durable, specially formulated polyurethane. The company says tyre sidewalls are at particular risk of damage from jagged edges in the piles of debris that build up at quarrying sites.
Argonics states: “Due to its ability to withstand abrasion, cutting, and tearing, urethane is ide