Quarry Products

Italian cement group Italcementi recorded a 1.3% turnover increase in 2011 to €4.7billion. Sales were strong in Morocco, France, India and North America, in contrast to falling trade in Italy and Egypt. Cement and clinker sales reached 51.1million tonnes, down 1.9% on 2010. Net debts reduced by €100million to €2.1billion, thanks to the sale of Italcementi subsidiary Axim.

HeidelbergCement said fourth-quarter profit and sales rose as the company cut costs mild weather helped extend the construction season in some of its main markets. It cut costs and boosted output in faster- growing emerging countries to help offset slower demand in regions including North America. The preliminary and unaudited figures for the fourth quarter and full year 2011 show that in Q4 revenue increased to €3.3billion (+13.8% from Q4 2010); operating income before depreciation improves by 6.8% to €639

The latest Global Cement Volume Forecast Report (GCVFR) from the CW Group shows global cement consumption growth will trend around 6% in 2012, reaching 3.78 billion ton [3.42 billion tonnes]. This is a decline from the 9% consumption volume growth in 2011 when worldwide cement demand reached 3.56 billion ton [3.23 billion tonnes]. The chief driver of global consumption growth will continue to be China, which will consume 2.22 billion tons [2 billion tonnes] of cement by 2012, says the global cement industry

Gravel output in France went up 3% over the January-September 2011 period, according to the Unicem professional body. However, the pace is slowing down dramatically as the year is drawing to a close. Output dropped by 0.8% in the second quarter and by 0.7% in the third quarter, following the 12.8% increase reported in the first three months of the year.

Italy's Italcementi, a multinational company which produces cement, ready-mix concrete and construction aggregates, has reached an agreement, through Ciments Francais, to sell 51% of its Afyon Turkish unit to Cimsa Cimento Sanayi ve Ticaret. The agreed price for the sale of its stake has been finalized at 57.5 million Turkish lira (€24.9 million).

The first Quarry Life Award launched by HeidelbergCement raised strong interest from students and researchers with over 300 project proposals competing in 18 countries on four continents. Students and researchers from Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania were asked to submit a project proposal focusing on biodiversity protection and management at the quarries of the group.