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The world marble-natural stone sector in 2014 continued its growth trend for the fifth consecutive year (+3.85% over the previous year), according to the XXVI World Stone Report edited by Carlo Montaini for publisher Aldus.

The Report states that 2014 saw total world marble-natural stone output in excess of 100 million m³, equivalent to 80 million tonnes gross (net of quarry waste) and 1.5 billion m² of equivalent products at the conventional thickness for a slab of marble of 2cm.

The XXVI World Ston

Chicago Pneumatic has appointed Freeman Plant Sales as an authorised distributor of construction tools and portable energy equipment in South-East England. Commenting on the appointment, Paul Freeman, managing director of Freeman Plant Sales, said: “Chicago Pneumatic is well-known for providing reliable construction equipment at competitive prices. From my previous experience, this has proved especially valuable with the increased demand for construction tools in recent years, which is why we saw it as a gr

LafargeHolcim is reportedly implementing a new three-year strategy in Poland. The newly created building materials giant will not only sell cement, concrete and aggregates but will also offer its clients a range of services including logistics, design and consulting services amongst others.

If successful, the strategy will be implemented in other countries where LafargeHolcim is present. AS the company will be focused on the new strategy, it is not thought to be planning any major acquisitions in Poland,

XCMG has spoken of how the company has established a strong presence in the African market over recent years, and some of its ongoing projects in the continent.

According to customs statistics, the major Chinese construction equipment manufacturer exported over US$200 million worth of products to Africa in 2013. The group posted $170 million in export value in 2014, and nearly US$90 million in the first half of 2015, positioning it as the largest Chinese exporter to the market.

XCMG has established

Auto & Truck Tyres (A&TT), one of the leading South African suppliers of new and retreaded tyres, has worked with the Marangoni Group’s to completely upgrade its plant located in Wadeville, Johannesburg.

This large A&TT retreading plant produces close to 1,000 retreaded truck tyres a day, using precured material supplied by Leader Rubber Company S.A and Ringtread rings, and now aims to exploit the latest Italian-made Marangoni/TRM technology to achieve very high quality and efficiency standards.

The

Case Construction Equipment has been selected by Leica Geosystems as the supplier of machines for use by their Research & Development team to test their machine control systems. The four units – a Case 1650M XLT dozer, a CX210C crawler excavator, an 836C AWD grader and a 621F wheeled loader – have been hired on a one-year lease. At the end of the year, the machines will be replaced with new units and the lease renewed.

Sten Kristensen, director of product management at Leica Geosystems, explains: "The m

The Italian Italcementi Group developed TX Active, a photocatalytic principle for cement products said to reduce organic and inorganic pollutants that are present in the air, is being trialled at a test site in Turku, Finland.
Betonielementti CEO Rami Lahti said that titan oxide, a component of TX Active which reacts to sunlight, can convert diesel vehicles' nitrogen emissions into harmless nitrates. Lahti said the TX Active content concrete would be perfect for surfacing parking sites, market places and

Indonesia is expected to be emerge as the largest cement producer in Asia in 2017, according to the Indonesian Cement Association (ASI). The ASI says the country will have eight new cement factories with a capacity of 24 million tonnes that will be operational by that year. Also, the ASI predicts that cement sales will rise by 2% to 61.08 million tonnes in 2015 from 59.9 million tonnes in 2014.

Saudi Arabian cement stockpiles are said to have grown to 22.5 million tonnes worth SAR 5.28 billion (US$ 1.41bn), with producers having to cut output by 5-10%. National cement committee chairman Jihad al-Rasheed said that production has risen 5% to 60 million tonnes while demand is 57 million tonnes. An industry source is reported by Saudi media saying that demand has fallen in recent months, particularly in Ramadan. According to al-Rasheed, the government is still considering lifting the cement export ban

Shandong Shanshui Cement Group Limited (Sunnsy) has won a deal to supply cement for the Qingdao Jiaodong International Airport project in China. The deal, worth nearly CNY 270 million (US$42.36 million, involves the supply of around 1 million tonnes of cement.

KPI-JCI and Astec Mobile Screens has launched a new, user-friendly website that is completely optimised for any device or screen size, allowing dealers and producers to easily access information, whether in the office or out in the field.

The new site was launched during the 2015 National Dealer Conference, located this year at KPI-JCI and Astec Mobile Screens’ manufacturing facility in Yankton, South Dakota. The site was designed to match the company’s new look, which aligns with Rocky, the company’s ic

Cemex says after reaching close to seven million beneficiaries through its social programmes, it has set the goal of benefiting more than 10 million people by the year 2020. The Mexican building materials giant’s CEO Fernando A. Gonzalez made the announcement during the United Nations Private Sector Forum 2015 meetings held in New York, USA.

Among its efforts to support infrastructure and housing development in the communities where it operates, Cemex is establishing community centres for construction t

Hyundai Heavy Industries Europe (HHIE) is investing in its European operations with work starting on a new headquarters. The facility will be located in Tessenderlo, Belgium and HHIE is spending some €30 million on the project. The new headquarters facility comprises a new, three-story, 5,400m2 office building, a 13,000m2 warehouse, a European training facility, an event hall and a showroom. The construction work is scheduled for completion by the end of 2016. Infrabo, a well-known Belgian architecture and