News

Sandvik Russia held a conference in Chelyabinsk, which was attended by over 50 guests. They saw a series of machinery demonstrations and took part in focused workshops and other activities, “designed to get the best from Sandvik construction equipment.” The Urals Equipment and Technologies for Construction Business in Russia Conference was jointly organised by Sandvik Construction Russia in partnership with its Russian distributor Quarry-Service.

Powerscreen has signed DUO Africa as its first distributor in Ghana, and has completed a deal to supply three crushing and screening trains. DUO Africa will sell equipment into Ghana and support Powerscreen products in the sub-Saharan region. Among its first contracts is to supply two Powerscreen XA400 primary jaw crushers, two 1000 Maxtrak cone crushers and two Chieftain 2100 triple-deck screens to UK-based Hawk Plant for a number of aggregate crushing operations in Sierra Leone.

French-based international building material group Lafarge is to raise €200 million to speed development in India. It has signed an agreement to raise the finance through capital increase subscribed by Baring Private Equity Asia, and representing a 14% minority stake in its Indian subsidiary, Lafarge India. The transaction, which is subject to the approval of local regulatory authorities, will accelerate Lafarge’s growth plans in India in all its product lines: cement, aggregates and concrete.

Leading concrete and aggregates company, Tudor Griffiths of Ellesmere, County Shropshire, England, has acquired from Cemex UK, four established ready-mix concrete plants in Mid and North Wales. The plants are located at Aberystwyth, Bangor, Newtown and Wrexham. All existing operations, assets and staff at each of the four Cemex plants have been transferred to the new owner, Tudor Griffiths.

The German manufacturer of concrete admixtures, concrete paints and surface protection systems Ha-Be Betonchemie has signed a distribution contract with the German producer of industrial solutions Celanese Emulsions. Ha-Be Betonchemie is to distribute the concrete sealant Mowilith LDM 6880 in Germany, Austria and other countries in central and eastern Europe, as well as in the Middle East. Celanese Emulsions is aiming to enhance its presence in the area of concrete admixtures.

In France, Granulats Vicat has received two awards from the National Union of Aggregates Producers (UNPG) in recognition of its sustainable development initiatives. Vicat received the award for best practices in terms of health and safety for the creation of a game that aims to raise awareness among staff about quality, safety and the environment.

The Polish Institute for Market Economics (IBnGR) predicts that the cement consumption in Poland will reach 14.8 million tonnes in 2013 which will be 1 million tonnes less when compared to 2012. The 2013 sales will be affected by the long winter. But it is also pointed out that May has been difficult for cement producers despite the weather improvement. For example, Gorazdze's daily cement sales have been 20-30% lower when compared to May 2012. This is because the financial condition of clients has deterior

Germany-based steel manufacturer ThyssenKrupp has secured a deal from cement maker TPI Polene of Thailand for the construction of a €150 million cement clinker plant in Saraburi, close to the capital Bangkok. The major components for the deal, covering raw material preparation, cement grinding, clinker production and fuel preparation, are being supplied by plant construction specialist ThyssenKrupp Resource Technologies.

Turkish trade fair organiser MBA Grup Uluslararasi Fuarcilik is running a marble exhibition between 13-16 June 2013. The Stonexpo Afyon Marble and Marble Technologies Trade Fair will be held for the first time in Turkey's marble capital, Afyonkarahisar. The show, which will be based over 23,000m² with 3,000m² indoor space, will allow visitors to see marble pits and plants.

Weir Minerals’ operation in Turkey has announced a strong performance at the start of 2013, securing £2.5 million (€2.9 million) in new orders since the opening of its first sales and service centre in the country. The company launched the 600m² facility in the south of Istanbul province in October last year to provide enhanced customer support and faster delivery of equipment, spare parts and maintenance services to its customers across the region.

Cemex UK won three major mining and quarries awards at this year’s prestigious Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) Occupational Health and Safety Awards. The Mining and Quarries Sector winner was Readymix Southern. “It is an outstanding achievement to win these awards and to be recognised for our work in this area. This is the third consecutive year that our Readymix business has been a sector winner and all those involved should be congratulated,” says Andy Taylor, health and safety dire

CDE Mining has appointed Stephen McCartney to the role of business development manager to oversee the expansion of CDE Mining in the years ahead with a specific focus on the development of business in North and Latin America, Africa, Australia and Russia. He joins CDE Mining have gained almost 20 years’ experience in the construction and mining equipment industry throughout North America and Latin America.