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European manufacturers of construction equipment expect annual growth of 5-6 % until 2020, and 2% points in additional profit, a new key new industry survey has revealed.

According to the McKinsey & Company survey of senior executives at more than 75 OEMs, 69% of companies are optimistic about the future, with just one in ten predicting a deterioration in their business.

Specifically, manufacturers point to two primary opportunities: growth from markets outside Europe and the increasing importance of

The practical steps taken to safeguard workers in a UAE quarry were demonstrated to safety and health professionals during a recent tour.

Members of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health’s (IOSH) UAE branch visited the Al Futtaim Colas (formerly Al Futtaim Tarmac) Shawkah Quarry in Ras Al Khaimah.

The tour included a visit to the workshops, where they met the mechanics and the supervisor. They took them through the process of how they assess the risks associated with activities and how the

Pilot Crushtec International has been appointed as the sole southern Africa distributor for Metso’s aggregates products and services.

The joint agreement, which came into effect on Saturday 2 April 2016, is said by Adrian Wood, head of global distribution, Aggregates at Metso, as “a really exciting development”. He continued: “Service is a vitally important aspect of our business and Pilot Crushtec International’s recognised strength in this discipline will be of significant benefit to our customers.”

Volvo Penta engines are a key part of PTC’s products and the French manufacturer honours them in its hydraulic power packs.

French-based PTC and Volvo Penta have been collaborating for more than 50 years and have strengthened their relationship with the creation of several hydraulic power packs, including the PTC 650VO.

The power pack is used for pile driving rigs (known as Vibrodrivers), and insofar as the 650 refers to the available hydraulic oil flow, the VO stands for Volvo.

“The diesel engine

Based in Lyon, Béton Direct is said to be the first online service of tailored delivery of ready mixed concrete and mortar.

The start-up comprises nine people and is said to offer a simple and rapid alternative to traditional circuits.

Delivery is in 48 hours and starts at just 500litres.

In the Philippines, Cemex is to increase the price of its cement. The wholesale price for a bag of 50kg will increase from PHP 217 (€4.13/US$4.71) to PHP 227. Also, it is reported that Holcim Cement is looking to sell cement at PHP 212 a bag. Meanwhile, Rizal cement brand is being sold at PHP 217/bag.

French aggregates specialist Eurovia has signed partnerships with five drone specialists: R&Drone, Technidrone, Geoprojection, Air-Marine and RScan (Vinci Construction Terrassement).

The companies will collect data on the quarries of Eurovia, allowing the digital modelling of a site as well as calculating the stock of material.

Eurovia plans to use the drones to make 3D models of it industrial installations, which will have the avantage of accelerating the processes of definition and validation of pr

Demand for ready mixed concrete has recovered more than half the decline experienced by producers after the 2007 recession.

The industry now produces over 23 million m³ of concrete. Yet there is some way to go, as demand has averaged 26 million m³/year since the 1970s.

These are some of the conclusions of a report published by BDS Marketing Research entitled The ready mixed concrete industry in Great Britain – its structure, markets and prospects.

The consultancy which specialises in the heavy buil

The fast-developing market in manufactured sand worldwide will be one of the keynote sessions at Agg-intel Europe, the first of a new series of international conferences for the aggregates sector.

Supported and delivered by Aggregates Business Europe, the conference will take place in Manchester, UK, on June 27, the day before the renowned Hillhead exhibition opens.

A 2013 Caterpillar 730 ADT, New Holland E385C crawler excavators, a 2005 Case 695SR backhoe loader and a Hamm 3411 compactor are among the models up for grabs at Euro Auctions unreserved two-day auction in Dormagen, Germany on 28-29 April 2016.

The auction follows the bauma 2016 construction and quarrying equipment exhibition (11-17 April) in Munich and is among events marking 10 years of Euro Auctions Dormagen auction site.

HeidelbergCement has announced the project to restructure the Italian operations of Italcementi.

This follows Heidelberg Cement’s July 2015 agreement to acquire a 45% stake in the company from Italmobiliare, the holding company of the Pesenti family, which will own a significant stake in the new entity.

The German group says that the reorganisation will impact about 400 of the current 2.500 jobs in Italy until 2020, and there are likely to be redundancies.

Bergamo will remain the headquarters of t

Sandvik Construction has appointed Swedish Machinery and Trucks Group (SMT) as its new distributor for Mobile and Stationary crushing and screening equipment throughout Algeria. As well as supplying a comprehensive range of crushers and screens, SMT will also provide Sandvik Construction customers with full aftermarket care, spare parts and dedicated customer service.

An established name throughout Africa since its launch in 1976, SMT is said to have experienced continuous growth since then. Headquarter

A total of 12 new Renault trucks have been delivered by Qatar-based Al Attiya Motors and Trading Company (AMTC) to locally-headquartered ready mix concrete supplier Beton Ready-mix.

The new K-range Renault trucks delivered to Beton Ready-mix are designed to withstand extreme climate and tough conditions and are expected to boost Beton Ready-mix's productivity as well as efficiency.

The truck will join the company’s existing fleet of 15 Renault-branded trucks.

Russia’s Sibirsky Cement company, Siberia, produced 3.8 million tonnes of cement in 2015, down 11.5% from 2014.

According to senior vice-president of Sibcem, Gennady Rasskazov, the decrease will amount to 13% in 2016, although the company continues to upgrade its plants.

The enterprise produces ten types of standard cements and 13 types of special cements, with the housing construction sector accounting for the majority of the product consumption.

Cement consumption in the Siberian federal distric

ARM Cement of Kenya is likely to finalise talks with a foreign investor on picking up a US$140 million (€122.92 million) stake in the company by 15 April 2016.

Of the total investment, US$110 million will be used by the cement company to repay company debt while the rest will be used for expansion.

The investment will be finalised by June 2016.

Keystone Private Equity; Daewon Construction; Tong Yang, and two other bidders have been shortlisted for the takeover of Sambu Construction Industrial, a unit of South Korea-based Sambu Construction that is currently placed under court receivership.

The final bidding round for Sambu, which produces pre-stressed, high-strength concrete (PHC) piles, will be held on 22 April 2016, disclosed arranger Samjung KPMG.

Sambu reported a KRW 6.8 billion (€5.2 million/US$5.92 million) operating profit and a KRW 5

The Portland Cement Association predicted that cement consumption in the US will grow by 3.4% in 2016 and then by 4.3% in 2017.

The new figure was lower than the previous forecast of a 5% increase, taking into account the effect of plunging oil prices; strict monetary policy; weak global economy, and the country's new Fixing America's Surface Transportation Highway Bill.

According to GS-Expert, the consumption of cement in Kazakhstan grew by 7% in 2015.

The share of imported products totalled some 12%, which is the lowest rate in the last ten years.

In Vietnam, the Ministry of Construction's Building Materials Department revealed that in January-March, 2016, cement consumption in the country increased by 109.8% year-on-year to 15.71 million tonnes.

Exports during the period also increased by 102% to 3.5 million tonnes.

Meanwhile, in March 2016, consumption reached 6.27 million tonnes with a 17% increase from March 2015.

Exports during the month increased by 115% year-on-year to 1.35 million tonnes.

Shareholders at Mexican cement company Cemex have approved the emission of close to 1.61 billion A and B class shares that will be distributed among investors as dividends.

The company’s stocks were hit by the devaluation of Mexico's own currency and low international oil prices in 2015, yet its price has increased by around 33% so far this year due to better prospects in terms of cash flow and exchange rate.