Quarry Products

UK-based Breedon Aggregates has announced that it has reached an agreement with administrators to buy out C&G Concrete for £10.15million. Breedon has said that the acquisition is an excellent geographical and operational fit for the company. “We are delighted to have secured such a high quality business as our first bolt-on acquisition and look forward to welcoming C&G’s employees into the group,” said Breedon executive chairman Peter Tom. “C&G has a strong market position and excellent asset base in Lincol

Portugal-based cement producer Cimpor has said that it has secured €100million of private investment from an unnamed international company. According to Cimpor, the company offered better terms than local banks or the Portuguese government. Cimpor has said that the loan will be repaid over the next four years and means that the company will not need to seek extra funding in the next two years.

The reuse of old asphalt is set to increase rapidly, with predictions that one day it will be possible to utilise 100% of the 'waste'. The use of reclaimed asphalt has been on the increase for some years, but according to asphalt plant producer Ammann too much is still consigned to noise barriers or landfill.

The Swiss-based international company claims that more than 500million tonnes of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) produced in 2008 was perfectly useable with the quality of the mineral and filler

One of Poland's leading quarry operators was one of the smallest when it became the country's first Privately owned aggregates business. Claire Symes visited the site to find out about this rapid growth. Like all Polish quarries Kopalnie Dolomitu was once state owned but the company made history when it became the first privately operated quarry business in 1996. Since then, managing director Longin Bokwa has steered the company through rapid growth and investment.

Aggregate washing is helping quarries in Europe to improve the quality of end products and add value. Claire Symes looks at the technological developments. Stricter aggregates specifications and the need to make the best use of all extracted material is driving greater use of washing equipment. But the latest technology means that this growth does not have to significantly impact on energy or water consumption.

Lithuanian cement manufacturer Akmenes Cementas is said to be negotiating on a contract to supply cement for the construction of the Baltic Nuclear Power Plant (BaltAES) in Russia's Kaliningrad. Lietuvos Rytas reported that Yevgeni Vlasenko, director of BaltAES, confirmed that the company was in talks about a large order from Akmenes Cementas. The nuclear plant would need thousands of tonness of cement.

According to reports, Libya has recommenced importing cement from Albania. The imports stopped around two months ago, affecting business at Albania's Port of Durres. Libya previously imported between 20-30tonnes of cement per month from Albania.

Titan Cement of Greece has seen its revenues drop by 43.3% decrease in the first half of 2011 to €116.90 million, and a 39.7% drop in its EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amorisation) interest to €28.3 million, while its net profits fell by 98% to €300,000 compared with the corresponding period in 2010. At group level its revenues dropped by 18.2% to €557 million, while its EBITDA fell by 12.4% to €141.4 million and its net profits decreased by 65.7% to €23.4 million.