News

According to GS-Expert, 209 million m³ of crushed stone and gravel was produced in Russia in 2015 (-10.4% from 2014).

The index decreased the most in the Far Eastern (-18%) and the North-Western federal districts (-13%).

Growth was recorded in ten of the 73 regions: 2.15 times in the Novgorod region; two-fold in the Chuvash Republic, the Orel region and the Udmurt Republic; 1.4 times in the Udmurt and Buryat Republics; 1.3 times in Crimea and the Kurgan region; 1.2 times in the Kabardino-Balkar Repub

Consumption of cement in Spain fell 1.1% in January 2016 to reach 747,416tonnes.

This is lower than the 2% growth that had been predicted by the sector association Oficemen.

Cement consumption in January was 7,967tonnes lower than in the year-ago period. The figures confirm that the cement market has not managed to stabilise.

In this context, Oficemen has made a new call to various public administrations to have plans in place to revive the cement industry and aim to reach a production level of 30

Cement and clinker FOB and CFR prices continue to drop on a monthly basis, according to the CW Research’s February update to Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea and East Africa.

“By this point, after many months when prices have not shown any encouraging signs, traders seem resigned to the situation, and are now turning their attention more pointedly towards new markets and export opportunities. This is easily noticeable for Med Basin traders, while for Middle Eastern traders, the continuing depreciation of cement

Morocco’s king has officially opened a Volvo supported training school in the country.

Inaugurated by His Majesty King Mohammed VI on 27 January 2016, the facility in Settat is being actively assisted with financial, technical and equipment support provided by the Volvo Group’s as part of its program to support the development of vocational training schools in Africa.

Based on an 84 hectare campus, some 60km from Casablanca, the newly-built training school aims to provide a modern facility that will

Ernest Jelito, the CEO of the Polish cement producer Gorazdze Cement, has said in interview that having foreign capital has been indispensable to the industry, and has allowed modernisation which has transformed the industry into one of the most advanced in the world.

Around PLN 10 billion (€2.28 billion/US$2.56 billion) has been spent on this.

He added that cement companies currently pay some PLN 1 billion in tax and are often the largest employers in their area.

He also emphasised that Europe mu

According to the latest report by India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra), demand for cement in India in fiscal year 2016/2017 is projected to grow by 4% to 6%.

Cement demand in fiscal year 2015/2016 is estimated to grow at 3%.

Demand in the current fiscal year has been weak because of the slowdown witnessed across urban and rural housing, and industrial and construction activities.

Holcim Maroc is to present a rehabilitation project to make an olive grove out of a shale quarry close to its Settat plant.

An olive grove will lead to a potential extra source of income.

The cement group actively took part in environmental preservation and sustainable development in those Moroccan provinces where it operates.

For the full year 2015, Fujairah Cement Industries (FCI) recorded a 96.55% increase in net profit to AED 50.65 million (€12.25 million/US$13.79 million) from AED 25.77 million in 2014.

The year saw FCI record sales of AED 612.21 million, down 0.53% from AED 615.5 million in 2014.

Meanwhile, for the fourth-quarter ended 31 December, 2015, FCI recorded a 26% increase to AED 26 million (€6.29 million/$7.08 million) from AED 8.71 million in the year-ago quarter.

Cement producer Holcim Indonesia has reported sales of IDR 6.56 trillion (€437.16 million/US$487.15 million) during the first nine months of 2015, down 2.59% from IDR 6.73 trillion a year earlier.

During the period, the cement company reported a net loss of IDR 372.31 billion, compared to a profit of IDR 598.89 billion a year earlier.

The cost of goods sold rose by a year-on-year 6.21% to IDR 5.08 trillion.

German cement manufacturer HeidelbergCement has increased its estimate on the synergies that will be created by the acquisition of a stake in Italian peer Italcementi by €100 million to a total of €400 million.

It is reported that in particular, Heidelberg expects to cut €115 million of general and administrative costs; €70 million of IT costs and other purchases; €105 million of tax costs, and €110 million of logistics costs.

It has also been confirmed that as soon as Heidelberg is given the approval

The Nawalparasi district in Nepal is seeing a major influx of investment in new cement production plants, totalling NPR 65 billion (€529.12 million/US$595.63 million) thus far.

Domestic player Sarbottam Cement plans to turn out 1,500tonnes/day starting mid-April 2016, when it launches two new brands.

China-based Hongshi Holdings Group and Shivam Holdings Nepal are in a 70:30 joint venture Hongshi-Shivam Cement, establishing a NPR 30 billion plant near Dumkibas and Sardi that will be the country's lar

ZCCM Investments Holdings of Zambia will partner with private investors to build a cement factory and a 52MW thermal power plant costing US$500 million (€444.17 million) in Ndola.

The company will allocate 30-35MW from the power station for the cement plant and sell the remaining electricity to Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation (ZESCO).

The two projects are expected to provide more than 1,000 job opportunities.

In Oman, a factory of 25,000m² in Samayil has been unveiled by Oman-based stone supply and installation contractor Natural Stone.

The state-of-the-art plant of Al Ansari Trading's arm is the biggest of its kind in the country.

French cement company, Lafarge, has decided to temporarily put on hold the necessary procedures required to expand its limestone extraction activities in Sagunto (Spain).

This is due to uncertainties generated by the obstacles created by the new local government and the lack of other viable alternatives.