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BKT, the global off-highway tyre manufacturer, says it has adopted a sustainable production and business model since its establishment.

The Indian company says that profound social responsibility has always guided corporate decisions, focusing their attention on people and their well-being in compliance with labour standards.

The company aims at reducing waste and pollution by means of autonomous structures in terms of energy efficiency and environmental impact, in order to ensure a good quality of l

Bell Equipment UK has made a major investment in its workshop capability with the opening of its new service and maintenance centre. At the same time, the company has brought its service back in-house covering England and Wales, leaving United Plant Services to continue to support Bell machines in Scotland’s central belt.

The new facility, located on the same industrial park as the company’s existing UK base in Burton-on-Trent, boasts four workshop bays for machine repairs and refurbishment, along with

In South Korea Pine Tree Investment Management and Eugene Group have failed a reported hostile takeover of conglomerate Tongyang.

The two companies have failed to secure the required number of shares for a special resolution at the general shareholders' meeting of Tongyang.

The conglomerate's businesses include asset management, life insurance and cement.

During the meeting, the two companies are said to have proposed to increase the number of board members in Tongyang from ten at present.

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In China, production volume of cement in January-February 2016 fell by 8.2% year-on-year to 238.75 million tonnes, while output volume of flat glass fell by 1.9% to 120.23 million weight boxes.

The country's concrete commodity output volume in the two-month period hiked by 3% to 206.59 m³.

China Tianrui Group Cement is reported to have cancelled its plan to acquire 100% stake in China-based Henan Yongan Cement from Tianrui Group.

Tianrui Cement entered into an agreement on 9 September 2015 with Tianrui Group to buy 100% stake in Yongan Cement for CNY 842.02 million (€115.91 million/US$129.42 million).

Tianrui Cement reserves the right to make the acquisition again in the future.

Nigeria-based cement company Lafarge Africa saw its after-tax profit drop 19.52% year-on-year to NGN 26.99 billion (€121.03 million/US$135.53 million).

Before tax, profit declined 27.46% to NGN 29.27 billion.

Revenue rose slightly by NGN 6.42 billion or 2.46% and EPS dropped 17.99% to NGN 6.29.

Italian cement manufacturer Buzzi Unicem reported a 6.2% year-on-year increase in its turnover to €2.66 billion in 2015.

EBITDA rose 11.9% to €473.2 million, while recurring EBITDA grew 18.3% to €478.8 million.

In addition, net profit grew 6.3% to €128.1 million, while net debt reached €1.03 billion from €1.06 billion.

In the same year, the company saw an 1.7% increase in sales of cement to 25.6 million tonnes.

For 2016 the company expects to post a slight increase in its consolidated recurring

According to GS-Expert, the consumption of crushed stone and gravel in Russia totalled 211 million m³ in 2015, down almost 13% from 2014.

The demand decreased in almost all federal districts except the Crimean and Urals.

Moscow and the Moscow region were leading by the volume of deliveries with about 20.6 million m³. St Petersburg and the Leningrad region were the second, accounting for about 6% of the all-Russian consumption.

The Krasnodar, Rostov (South) and Tyumen regions (Urals) were the third

The 2015 Concrete Industry Sustainability Performance Report, covering 2014 performance data, has been published by MPA (Mineral Products Association) The Concrete Centre on behalf of the Sustainable Concrete Forum.

The eighth annual report provides an update and detailed record of progress against the strategic objectives and commitments, and summarises performance from 2008-2014 across a range of performance indicators.

The report covers findings in five key areas.

Action on materials contains fi

JPMorgan and Citi are reported to be the investment banks selected by LafargeHolcim to explore a potential sale of its New Zealand and Australia operations worth AUD 3 billion (€2.02 billion/US$2.25 billion). Neither of the banks confirmed the appointment. The latest development comes after DataRoom stated that LafargeHolcim had been contemplating a possible spin-off of its Australasian unit. Earlier, the company publicly revealed that it had plans to have assets worth AUD 6 billion globally divested in 201

Tata Steel, part of India’s biggest conglomerate and a supplier of steel to construction, quarrying and mining equipment manufacturers including Caterpillar, Komatsu, Terex, Liebherr, JCB, Joy Global, Palfinger and Titan International, said a slump in global prices has forced it to consider selling its UK business. Global oversupply, high manufacturing costs and rising steel exports mean trading conditions in the UK and Europe have “rapidly deteriorated,” Mumbai-based Tata Steel said in a statement reported

Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) is divesting its business within Volvo Maroc SA to longstanding distribution partner SMT Group. Subject to regulatory approval, the agreement between Volvo CE and SMT Group is expected to come into effect in Q2 2016 and cover the sale, importation and distribution of Volvo and SDLG branded construction equipment products and services in Morocco.

SMT Group is already an established Volvo Group partner, with 25 dealerships in the EU and Africa. Today it represents

Global cement volume growth is expected to lose momentum following a significant decline in Chinese demand, bringing down the average growth rate over 2015-2020 to 0.7%. As a result, global cement consumption is expected to reach 4 billion tonnes in 2016 and 4.2 billion tonnes by 2020, according to the 1H2016 update of CW Research’s Global Cement Volumes Forecast Report.

The new CW Research report provides global and regional outlooks, based on the detailed perspective of 55 of the world’s most important

Hal Williford, chief executive of Memphis Stone and Gravel Company, is the new chairman of the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA). He will hold the position until the association’s next Annual Convention.

“Three years ago NSSGA asked the members what was important to them, and out of that came the Rocks Build America strategic plan. It has helped to guide this association well since 2014, and my goal this year is to continue that progress,” said Williford. “I am eager to look for ways to i