News

US Concrete has hired Ronnie Pruitt as chief operating officer reporting to the chief executive. In this new role, Pruitt will have direct oversite of all US Concrete ready-mixed concrete, aggregate and ancillary operations. Pruitt comes from Martin Marietta Materials where he was vice president of cement sales. "I am excited to bring Ronnie's capabilities and experience to our executive management team," said William J. Sandbrook, US Concrete president.

Pruitt spent most of his career with Texas Indust

Lafarge Africa’s profits after tax fell by nearly US$10 million in the first nine of months of 2015, compared to the same period of the previous year. The Nigeria-based company’s post-tax profits dipped to NGN 29 billion (US$ 145.6 million) from NGN 31 billion ($155.38 million) in Q1-Q3 2014. Lafarge Africa subsidiary United Cement brought the profit after tax to NGN 3.3 billion ($16.54 million). Another subsidiary, Ashaka Cement, was affected by the unrest at the beginning of 2015, and profit after tax fro

Polish concrete output reached close to 15 million m³ in the first three quarters of 2015, up 4% on the same period last year. Furthermore, the national concrete sector expects a marked improvement in 2017-18. The rise in demand to date in 2015 is said to have been brought about by an increase in residential construction. In 2016, the concrete market is forecast to grow 3%.

Algerian cement group GICA has announced that it will end a cement shortage by the end of 2016 due to the opening of extensions to its existing production sites in Aïn El-Kébira (Sétif) and Chlef. Both sites will have increased capacities of 2mn tonnes per year, with the former having potentially more.

GICA is also shortly set to reach an agreement with a foreign firm to extend its production sites in Zahana and Beni Saf, leading to a potential increase in production capacity of 3.5 million tonnes/year.

Cemex Latam Holdings (CLH) net sales reached US$354 million during the third quarter of 2015, a decrease of 23% versus the third quarter of 2014. The decline is being mainly explained by the Mexican construction materials’ firm as due to currency fluctuations and lower sales in its operations in Colombia and Panama.

Operating CLH EBITDA, also adjusted for currency fluctuations, declined by 10% during the third quarter of 2015 compared with the same period in 2014.

Hope Construction Materials’ employees recently completed 100 days of voluntary work, as part of the organisation’s Hope for Others initiative.

The scheme, launched by the UK-based firm in 2014, sees Hope employees choosing to partake in charity work close to their heart, with the organisation offering two fully paid days leave to each employee per year.

Cemex UK has won a prestigious Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) award for its outstanding work to help protect vulnerable road users.

The award was sponsored by Transport for London and highlights the considerable work that Cemex has done since 2004. Judges commented: “Cemex’s ambition is to become a beacon and really make a difference in helping to make Britain’s roads safer for vulnerable road users. Extensive investment and stakeholder engagement has returned impressive results o

Atlas Copco reported higher-than-estimated profit in the third quarter of 2015 and signalled demand is improving in European markets.

For the second straight quarter, earnings at the Swedish quarrying equipment manufacturer hit a new high. The company reported that operating profit jumped 28% to 5.31 billion kronor (€580.78 million), buoyed by the Swedish krona’s weakness that’s boosting earnings of exporters.

Atlas Copco, whose products include rock drills for quarrying and mining, forecast demand in

Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) net sales fell 6% in Q3 2015 – but the Swedish giant took heart from market share gains and stable operating margins in what remains a tough global market.

Net sales in the third quarter decreased by 6%, amounting to €1.26 billion (SEK 11.884 billion) compared to €1.34 billion - SEK 12.582 billion in Q3 2014. Operating income, excluding restructuring charges, decreased to €61.38 million (SEK 576 million), from €69.06 million (SEK 648 million) in the same period of

The inaugural CONEXPO Latin America has been hailed a success with strong exhibitor support, valued industry cooperation, and positive reaction from attendees. Nearly 32,600 registrants from more than 90 countries attended the landmark event, exceeding organisers’ original expectations. In addition to the host country of Chile, significant numbers of professional attendees came from throughout the region. The top five Latin American countries besides the host country (in order) were Argentina, Brazil, Peru,

Leading infrastructure services company FM Conway has leapt 80 places in the UK-based Sunday Times Top Track 250 following another year of extraordinary growth.

Compiled by Fast Track and published in The Sunday Times newspaper each October, the league table ranks the fastest growing private companies in Britain by sales increase. Revenues at FM Conway rose 42% this year to reach £234.5 million (€317.24 million), which saw the Dartford, county Kent, England-based business move up to number 118 in the r

Superior Industries, a major US manufacturer and global supplier of bulk material processing and handling systems, has launched its first ever crusher model.

The high performance Patriot Cone Crusher marks a major milestone for the company’s new crushing and screening division.

Hitachi Construction Machinery (Europe)/(HCME) has appointed Ergotrak to be the exclusive distributor of its full range of construction equipment in Greece.

Having supplied Hitachi mining excavators and rigid dump trucks since 2004, Ergotrak has now expanded its range to include Zaxis excavators (mini, medium, large and wheeled), ZW wheeled loaders and Hitachi Sumitomo crawler cranes.