News

The Polish paving slab manufacturer Libet expects to have limited downtime for its production lines due to the mild autumn 2013 and also to a high level of orders, which include one for Amazon's new logistics centres.

In the first nine months of 2013, Libet posted revenue of PLN 160 million (€38.04 million). Analysts expect revenue for the whole year to be PLN 220 million to PLN 225million, with profit of between PLN 8-9 million.

Danish company FLSmidth has confirmed reports that it has signed a Letter of Intent with Qatar National Cement Company (QNCC) for supply of a cement plant in Qatar.

The company says that if and when the contract is finalised and becomes binding, it will immediately inform the market.

“FLSmidth is continuously negotiating many potential contracts on the global market. To be considered binding, such contracts require not only signing but also exchange of down payment and guarantees, etc,” says the co

The Algerian branch of French construction materials group Lafarge has signed an environmental performance agreement alongside the Ministry of Spatial Planning and Environment (MATE) and the National Pharmacy Union (SNAPO).

The agreement concerns waste sorting processes, reducing waste at the source and developing good practices in terms of waste co-incineration.

The SNAPO is involved in the agreement as out-of-date medication is co-incinerated in the ovens of cement factories. The agreement takes ad

Tooperang Quarry has completed a silica sand washing plant at a new site near Adelaide, South Australia.

The plant has been supplied by CDE and is producing glass sands for use by Owens-Illinois at its glass bottle manufacturing plant in Adelaide .

The new turnkey plant includes a range of equipment from the CDE product portfolio including the M2500 with integrated Counter Flow Classification Unit (CFCU); EvoWash fines recovery system; fine sand screens, attrition cells and spirals.

The plant confi

Two Cemex quarries at Rugeley in the UK and Soto Pajares in Spain have been recognised for their outstanding contributions to biodiversity at the European Aggregates Association (UEPG) awards in Brussels, Belgium.

Rugeley Quarry in Cannock Chase, West Midlands received a Recognition of Achievement for its significant restoration work and excellent habitat management activities while Soto Pajares Quarry in the Province of Madrid won the Special Award for Biodiversity for its outstanding actions related to

The Greek cement manufacturer Halips, part of the Italcementi group, has recently invested more than €13 million towards the development of a silo for the storage of raw materials and fuel, at its warehouse in Aspropirgos Attikis.

The UK’s Mineral Products Association (MPA) is calling on government to increase its efforts to overcome inertia in the planning system, in order to ensure a steady and adequate supply of aggregates which are essential to the construction industry and the economy.

This is the conclusion of MPA’s 2nd Annual Mineral Planning Survey (AMPS) for 2012, which highlights that the plan-led system is failing to provide local plans which identify where land for future extraction is located. This increases the ris

South-west England law firm, Stephens Scown LLP, solicitors acting for Wolf Minerals on the Hemerdon tungsten and tin mining project near the city of Plymouth, has agreed terms on the company’s behalf for the last remaining residential property purchase required under planning permissions granted to Wolf.

Sally Norcross Webb, client partner for Wolf Minerals, said: “We are delighted to have helped Wolf Minerals achieve this important milestone, which enables it to proceed to the development and productio

Holcim France is opening a new clinker grinding and slag plant at La Rochelle port. This will be the French arm of the Swiss construction materials firm’s third site in the north west of the country. The new plant will supply the regions of Poitou-Charentes, Limousin, Aquitaine and part of the Centre region. Holcim says the move will enable them to effectively support the construction and public works sectors, strengthen its local footprint and benefit from improved proximity to customers.

In her academic dissertation at the Finnish Aalto University, Johanna Tikkanen M.Sc. (Tech) has found that mineral powders can be used to replace a significant part of cement in concrete. This will bring both economic and environmental benefits, she argues.

French cement producer Ciments Français has posted turnover of €899 million for Q3 2013, down 1.5% year-on-year. At a constant exchange rate, turnover rose by 3.7%. Over a nine-month period, aggregate sales fell 1.6% to 23.1 million tonnes, while ready-mixed concrete sales rose 3.5% to 7.1 million m³, and cement and clinker sales declined by 3.4% to 28.6 million tonnes due to a fall in Egyptian activity. Since the start of 2013, Ciments Français registered consolidated turnover of €2.73 billion, down 3.4% y

Cement consumption in Russia is expected to grow to 69.5 million tonnes by the end of 2013.

And, within the overall figure, consumption in the Siberian federal district may reach 6.9 million tonnes.

Georg Kleger, president and CEO of Siberian Cement group, says the group's annual produce is about 5.5 million tonnes of cement. The group also produces some 400,000m³ of concrete per year. Siberian Concrete (part of Siberian Cement group) has eight plants of its own and rents another two. The plants are l