Quarry Products

Aerated concrete manufacturer Ytong Turkey is looking to make new investments in its production facility to make it the largest Ytong facility globally.

With the new investments, the company's production capacity in its five facilities will reach 2.5 million m³ by the end of 2015.

According to Ytong Turkey board member, Nukhet Demiren, the company has helped the country save US$10 billion (€8.82 billion) from energy consumption since the start of operations in 1963.

The Russian holding company Eurocement Group has postponed construction of a cement plant in Uzbekistan for an indefinite term.

The decision is caused by the difficulties with the project financing, including those related to the economic situation in Russia.

Algerian cement group Gica is investing DZD 154 billion (€1.28 billion/US$1.45 billion) to increase its yearly production by 38% from a current 11.5 million tonnes to 18.5 million tonnes.

This investment will lead to the creation of the Bechar and Oum El Bouaghi cement plants, which are due to be operational by the end of 2017 and will produce a yearly 3 million tonnes, and to the increase in production capacities of the Chlef and Aïn El Kebira cement plants.

CRH has completed the Philippines element of its transaction to acquire certain assets from Lafarge and Holcim for a total enterprise value of €6.5 billion.

Last month the group confirmed that the majority of the transaction was complete, with the exception of the operations in the Philippines.

In August 2015, Morocco’s cement consumption rose 13% on July and 17% year-on-year.

In the first nine months, consumption rose 1.39% to 9.48 million tonnes.

Certain reasons explain this, including the end of Ramadan, a growth in self-construction, as well as regional and local elections.

The All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) recorded cement exports of 566,689 tonnes in August 2015, which is a 31.54% decline compared to the 827,707 tonnes exported in the year-ago period.

Cement exports to India fell 28% year-on-year while exports to Afghanistan they fell 18.24% during the period under review.

APCMA said that exports to Afghanistan have been slowing due to inroads by Iranian cement, which is also entering the country's market.

According to Widodo Santoso, the chairman of the Indonesian Cement Association, cement consumption during the first eight months of 2015 was at 37.26 million tonnes, a drop of 0.3% compared to a year ago.

In August 2015, total consumption was at 5.34 million tonnes, up 14.7% from the same month in 2014.

Consumption of cement can grow between 4-6% in 2015 if the infrastructure projects are implemented in accordance to the targets set up by the state.

Danish concrete company Skako Concrete has entered into an agreement with a Swedish company concerning the delivery of pre-stressed concrete structures.

The order amounts to DKK 11.20 million (€1.5 million/US$1.68 million).

CEO Søren Pedersen says that the order is part of a strategy for the company to expand its operations on the Swedish market.