News

At an unreserved public auction in Donington Park, County Leicestershire, England, Ritchie Bros Auctioneers sold over 890 heavy plant equipment items, tractors and trucks, making it the largest sale to date at its UK auction site. The company’s fifth auction in Donington Park attracted more than 580 on-site and online bidders from 61 countries. All items were sold on auction day to the highest bidders without minimum bids or reserve prices. “We’ve seen the number of sellers double at our most recent Doningt

Spanish cement company , Cementos Portland, is reported to have made an agreement with workers’ unions on the labour force adjustment plan for its concrete, mortar, aggregates and transport division, which will now impact 294 workers, 8% fewer than the originally proposed 318. At the same time, the company reached a deal on the labour force adjustment plan which will affect administrative staff, impacting 166 employees, 27% fewer than initially proposed. In the past year, the company has made collective re

Cemex’s consolidated net sales reached US$4 billion during the second quarter of 2013, an increase of 4% versus the comparable period in 2012, and due mainly to higher prices of its products in local currency terms and higher volumes in most of our regions. Operating EBITDA increased by 4% during the quarter to US$730 million versus the same period in 2012. Adjusting for the higher number of business days in its operations during the quarter, consolidated net sales improved by 2% and operating EBITDA increa

The Association of British Mining Equipment Companies (ABMEC) has appointed Paul Briggs, business director of Davis Derby of Derby, England, as vice president, a role that demonstrates a large commitment to the association and its membership, with a two-year stint followed by election to the president’s position for a further two years. He will be supporting and working closely with the recently elected president, Martin Cain (chief executive officer at Dosco).

In France, Matière has acquired pre-stressed structures specialist Composants Précontraints (CPC) in Brive and its engineering department in Massy. CPC's products are complementary to those of Matière, which now has four pre-cast concrete sites in France and two metallic construction factories. The three engineering departments are split by speciality: reinforced concrete, metal and pre-stressed concrete. Present in 25 countries, Matière generates 50% of its turnover internationally. The group has 400 staff

Holcim intends to streamline the ownership structure of its operations in India in order to strengthen the existing platform and create value for all stakeholders. Through intragroup restructuring, Holcim will increase its shareholding in Ambuja Cements to 61.39% and Ambuja in turn will acquire Holcim’s 50.01% stake in ACC. Both Ambuja and ACC will continue to operate as separate entities with their own brands and go-to-market strategies. However, the restructuring will allow for closer back-end cooperation

Caterpillar has held a successful series of Quarry Days at its Malaga Demonstration and Learning Centre (MDLC) in Malaga, Spain, which were attended by customers from Europe and Russia. During the event the company displayed its latest models as they would work in a quarry, and introduced the new 988K wheeled loader, which has an operating weight of 51tonnes and a bucket capacity of 6.4-7.5m³. The seventh generation 988 wheeled loader is powered by a Tier 4 Final/Stage IV Cat C18 ACERT diesel engine, featur

Novosibirskoe Karyeroupravlenie has launched a new broken stone plant in the settlement Gorny, Toguchin District of the Novosibirsk region (Siberia). Equipment from Metso Minerals has been installed at the rock-crushing plant, which will have a capacity is 2.2 million tonnes of broken stone/year. Output is expected to reach 320-370tonnes/hour, and the enterprise will manufacture high quality broken stone of different fractions.

The Mineral Products Association (MPA), the trade association for the UK quarrying and mineral products industry, is to host a Summit to discuss public safety around disused quarries in Great Britain. These sites range from very old workings, sites that have been returned into private ownership after operations have ceased or have been restored for use as a public amenity or nature reserve. Statistically the majority of fatalities and serious injuries involving quarries have occurred in these types of sites

Metso will supply a complete greenfield quarry plant to the Colas Group in France. The large-scale delivery includes primary, secondary and tertiary stations with service maintenance contracts for inspection and extended guarantees. The aggregate produced in the quarry is mainly destined for road construction. The value of the order will not be disclosed. Metso's solution embraces the customer's high health and safety commitment with low environmental impact compared to less modern quarry plants, and the st

In France, Paris Plages is back along the banks of the River Seine for the joy of all Parisians. Every summer, the French capital transforms itself into a tropical oasis: palm trees, water games and deck chairs. And there is even a beach, thanks to the 5,000tonnes of sand delivered by the Lafarge Group. Organised by Paris City Hall, the Paris Plages operation is now settled on the banks of the Seine until 18 August.

Breedon Aggregates, the UK’s largest independent aggregates business, has released its unaudited interim results for the six months ended 30 June, 2013. They show that revenue was £100.2 million compared to £83.0 million for the same period last year, a 21% increase, while underlying EBITDA at £13 million (£9.7 million for same period in 2012) is up 34%. Underlying operating profit at £6.6 million (£3.9 million) is 69% up and the underlying profit before tax at £5.3 million compares to £2.2 million in the