Quarry Products

Three winners of the British Marine Aggregate Producers Association (BMAPA) annual Archaeology Awards have recently been announced. The Awards recognise best practice in applying an archaeological reporting protocol developed in partnership between the marine aggregate industry and Historic England.

Mark Russell, director BMAPA, said: “Staff working in the marine aggregate industry, at wharves or on board dredgers are aware they can encounter archaeological finds during their day to day work, so the exis

Global programme management and construction consultancy Turner & Townsend is providing quantity surveying expertise as part of a government programme to close and rehabilitate 660 abandoned asbestos mines and shafts in South Africa.

The rehabilitation programme falls under the Department of Mineral Resources, which appointed Mintek - a global leader in minerals processing and metallurgical engineering products and services, to provide the professional project management.

SRK Consulting has taken the

ACC, the India-based ready-mixed concrete and cement manufacturer, posted a 3% year-on-year Q4 2015 sales increase from INR 27.62 billion (US$ 405.4 million) to INR 28.46 billion ($417.05 million), while cement volumes rose 4% from 5.77 million tonnes to 6 million tonnes. However, the net profit of the firm in the quarter fell 69% to INR 1.02 billion from INR 3.26 billion as the firm focused on lowering costs.

Hope Construction Materials, a leading UK independent supplier of cement and concrete, has announced the launch of its new bagged cement product, available later this year.

Their Professional Grade Cement will be available to customers across the southern half of England, the newest entrant into a UK bagged cement market worth £180 million (€231 million) annually.

The newly revealed product pack design, developed in association with Cognition Agency, features a large ram - a nod to the firm’s rich c

The Mineral Products Association has published its fourth Annual Mineral Planning Survey (AMPS4) which covers the period to the end of 2014. It is based upon data for the whole of Great Britain provided in confidence by MPA members. Although the demand for UK aggregates continues to recover, this latest report brings into sharper focus the problems of declining reserves that were raised in previous surveys. Unless action is taken on updating and extending the coverage of mineral plans and speeding up the pl

Nigeria's Dangote Cement has announced a cut in cement prices to NGN 1,300 (€5.85/US$6.53) per unit from NGN 1,800 before, with the stated intent of making cement affordable for all user segments.

This follows the opening of new production lines totalling 9 million tonnes/year in Ogun and Okpella Edo states.

Regional sales director Johnson Olaniyi said the company will ensure block moulders can get quality cement as part of efforts to thwart building collapses

In the third quarter ended December 2015, India-based JK Lakshmi Cement improved its total income year-on-year from INR 5.63 billion (€74.27 million/US$82.89 million) to INR 6.64 billion.

owever, it swung from a net profit of INR 184.8 million to a net loss of INR 36.70 million.

The company reduced its losses at profit after tax (PAT) level from INR 149.5 million recorded in the July-September 2015 quarter to INR 36.7 million in the period under review.

It saw its loss at profit before tax (PBT) l

JK Cements posted an on-year rise in its total stand-alone income from INR 7.99 billion (€105.43 million/US$117.66 million) to INR 9.03 billion during October-December 2015.

Its stand-alone net profit rose 2% from INR 167.3 million to INR 170.9 million.

Also, total expenses of the India-based company in the period increased from INR 7.39 billion to INR 8.16 billion.

The Portuguese holding company Semapa, with interests in the cement and pulp and paper business, saw profits drop by 27.7% in 2015 to €81.5 million (US$90.96 million).

The performance was affected by the reduction of the stake held in Portucel and increased taxes on profits.

The turnover rose by 6.7% to €2.132 billion and sales overseas reached some €1.611 billion, which accounted for 75.6% of the turnover.

Ebitda was estimated at €478.2 million, a 16.6% rise from 2014.