News

Mexican cement producer Cemex is planning to cut salaries at its six Spanish production plants by 25% in order to keen the plants open, according to trade unions CCOO and UGT.
Four plants are said to have already agreed to the move, but the plants in Alicante and Lloseta (Majorca) have rejected them. In total, the six plants have a workforce of 800 – with the two plants opposing the plan containing a combined 240 employees.
If the Alicante and Lloseta plants continue to snub the plan, CCOO and UGT claim C

Hanson Concrete has won the British Ready-Mixed Concrete Association’s (BRMCA) |Gold Medal for excellence in customer service for its supply to a rail viaduct repair project in County Yorkshire, northern England.

Contractor Story Rail had to repair two viaducts some 5km apart on the historic Settle to Carlisle railway line in the Ribble Valley between a Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. The concrete was delivered to a central point, pumped into rail-mounted mixers then transported over 1.5km down th

BASF has launched its launches the Master Builders Solutions brand in Russia, Turkey, the Gulf Cooperation Council countries (for example Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) as well as Kazakhstan.

The company says the brand strengthens its industry orientation, standing for its “commitment to provide the whole construction industry with tailored products and solutions.”

Ambienthesis, the Italian provider of environmental remediation, waste management, engineering and building material services, reported a €1.9 million net loss in the first nine months of 2013, from €1.8 million net losses year-on-year.

Ebitda dropped to €1.3 million from €4.9 million, pre-tax profits were negative at €2.2 million from €1.4 million and revenues decreased to €46.2 million from €52.8 million. Moreover, the net worth was negative of €15.1 million from a negative one of €16.8 million in Sept

The struggling Austrian construction materials company Asamer has confirmed that its liabilities amount to around €400 million.

The company's administrator plans to divide Asamer into two entities. The current family owners of Asamer will retain the core activities in Austria, along with the firm's plants in Slovakia and Bosnia Herzegovina. This amounts to a total turnover of €200 million compared to Asamer's current overall turnover of €452 million.

Experts anticipate a 7% growth of the ready-mix concrete market in St Petersburg and the Leningrad region of Russia in 2013 compared with 15% in 2012.

The market, however, is expected to retain its structure, except that some small companies are likely to quit business. In Q1-Q3 2013, 4.6 million m³ of concrete was produced in the region (compare with 6 million m³ in 2012).

French concrete product manufacturer BIP Bétons has launched a new concrete block which is said to offer a high mechanical and thermal performance, baptised Bétotherm 105.

Made from volcanic rock, the block is available in two formats. The product meets Promotélec energy performance standards and offers a thermal resistance which meets NF Th regulations. Bétotherm 105 also meets Eurocode 8 earthquake resistance norms and is compatible with all types of insulation and exterior coatings.

The potential demand for aggregates for ballast, scour protection and concrete in the UK to deliver gravity bases for offshore wind farms has been increased since the release of Offshore Wind: A 2013 Supply Chain Health Check by BVG Associates for The Crown Estate.

In this report, elements in the supply chain are assessed and ultimately rated on a green, amber and red scale. The majority of the 22 elements are given a green rating. Tellingly, one of only three elements to be judged red is vessels for ins

Aircrete systems producer H+H International boosted turnover to DKK 376.50mn (€50.48 million) in the third-quarter of 2013 from DKK 349.9 million in the third-quarter of 2012.

EBITDA increased to DKK 41.8 million from DKK 38.5 million. EBIT improved to a profit of DKK 19 million in Q3 2013 from a loss of DKK 32.4 million in Q3 2012. Net result was a DKK 5.8 million profit compared with a loss of DKK 55.1 million in Q3 2012.

Egypt-based Suez Cement revealed its affiliate Helwan Cement Company has introduced a new filter system to lower dust emissions to up to 10mg per cubic metre.

According to Suez Cement, the level is well below the standards used in Egypt, as well as Europe. In a press release, Suez Cement said it planned to invest EGP 500 million (€53.77 million) to improving the environmental standards of its five plants across Egypt.

Spanish cement firm, Cementos Molins, generated a profit of €10.8 million during the first nine months of 2013, which represents a 65.5% decrease compared to the same period in 2012. This has been attributed to the economic crisis. Other figures show that turnover fell 9.7% to €621 million, with sales in Spain falling 10.5% and international sales dropping 9.6%. Cementos Molins saw its net debt fall €26 million to €289 million.

Italian cement manufacturer Italcementi has successfully converted its Crévéchamps quarry into a bird protection site, as part of a partnership with the French bird protection league LPO. The quarry, situated between Flavigny and Charmes, came to the end of its operating period in 2012-2013.

Britain’s newest motorway service station, opening in June 2014 between junctions 11a and 12 on the M5 in County Gloucestershire, has been built with 5,000m3 of concrete supplied by construction materials company, Hope Construction Materials.

Hope’s quality ready-mixed concrete, combined with an easy-access, local plant network has helped the company win the contract to supply the construction of the Gloucester Gateway Services.

The company has been working in partnership with Buckingham Group Cont

US federal officials have used a Powerscreen impact crusher to pulverise 5.4 tonnes of illegal elephant ivory to discourage poachers and wildlife traffickers.

The disposal at the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Wildlife Property Repository at Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge near Denver, Colorado, was attended by representatives of African nations and other countries; dozens of leading conservationists and international media representatives. This was the latest in a series of act