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In China, production volume of cement in January-February 2016 fell by 8.2% year-on-year to 238.75 million tonnes, while output volume of flat glass fell by 1.9% to 120.23 million weight boxes.

The country's concrete commodity output volume in the two-month period hiked by 3% to 206.59 m³.

China Tianrui Group Cement is reported to have cancelled its plan to acquire 100% stake in China-based Henan Yongan Cement from Tianrui Group.

Tianrui Cement entered into an agreement on 9 September 2015 with Tianrui Group to buy 100% stake in Yongan Cement for CNY 842.02 million (€115.91 million/US$129.42 million).

Tianrui Cement reserves the right to make the acquisition again in the future.

Nigeria-based cement company Lafarge Africa saw its after-tax profit drop 19.52% year-on-year to NGN 26.99 billion (€121.03 million/US$135.53 million).

Before tax, profit declined 27.46% to NGN 29.27 billion.

Revenue rose slightly by NGN 6.42 billion or 2.46% and EPS dropped 17.99% to NGN 6.29.

Italian cement manufacturer Buzzi Unicem reported a 6.2% year-on-year increase in its turnover to €2.66 billion in 2015.

EBITDA rose 11.9% to €473.2 million, while recurring EBITDA grew 18.3% to €478.8 million.

In addition, net profit grew 6.3% to €128.1 million, while net debt reached €1.03 billion from €1.06 billion.

In the same year, the company saw an 1.7% increase in sales of cement to 25.6 million tonnes.

For 2016 the company expects to post a slight increase in its consolidated recurring

According to GS-Expert, the consumption of crushed stone and gravel in Russia totalled 211 million m³ in 2015, down almost 13% from 2014.

The demand decreased in almost all federal districts except the Crimean and Urals.

Moscow and the Moscow region were leading by the volume of deliveries with about 20.6 million m³. St Petersburg and the Leningrad region were the second, accounting for about 6% of the all-Russian consumption.

The Krasnodar, Rostov (South) and Tyumen regions (Urals) were the third

The 2015 Concrete Industry Sustainability Performance Report, covering 2014 performance data, has been published by MPA (Mineral Products Association) The Concrete Centre on behalf of the Sustainable Concrete Forum.

The eighth annual report provides an update and detailed record of progress against the strategic objectives and commitments, and summarises performance from 2008-2014 across a range of performance indicators.

The report covers findings in five key areas.

Action on materials contains fi

JPMorgan and Citi are reported to be the investment banks selected by LafargeHolcim to explore a potential sale of its New Zealand and Australia operations worth AUD 3 billion (€2.02 billion/US$2.25 billion). Neither of the banks confirmed the appointment. The latest development comes after DataRoom stated that LafargeHolcim had been contemplating a possible spin-off of its Australasian unit. Earlier, the company publicly revealed that it had plans to have assets worth AUD 6 billion globally divested in 201

Tata Steel, part of India’s biggest conglomerate and a supplier of steel to construction, quarrying and mining equipment manufacturers including Caterpillar, Komatsu, Terex, Liebherr, JCB, Joy Global, Palfinger and Titan International, said a slump in global prices has forced it to consider selling its UK business. Global oversupply, high manufacturing costs and rising steel exports mean trading conditions in the UK and Europe have “rapidly deteriorated,” Mumbai-based Tata Steel said in a statement reported

Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) is divesting its business within Volvo Maroc SA to longstanding distribution partner SMT Group. Subject to regulatory approval, the agreement between Volvo CE and SMT Group is expected to come into effect in Q2 2016 and cover the sale, importation and distribution of Volvo and SDLG branded construction equipment products and services in Morocco.

SMT Group is already an established Volvo Group partner, with 25 dealerships in the EU and Africa. Today it represents

Global cement volume growth is expected to lose momentum following a significant decline in Chinese demand, bringing down the average growth rate over 2015-2020 to 0.7%. As a result, global cement consumption is expected to reach 4 billion tonnes in 2016 and 4.2 billion tonnes by 2020, according to the 1H2016 update of CW Research’s Global Cement Volumes Forecast Report.

The new CW Research report provides global and regional outlooks, based on the detailed perspective of 55 of the world’s most important

Hal Williford, chief executive of Memphis Stone and Gravel Company, is the new chairman of the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA). He will hold the position until the association’s next Annual Convention.

“Three years ago NSSGA asked the members what was important to them, and out of that came the Rocks Build America strategic plan. It has helped to guide this association well since 2014, and my goal this year is to continue that progress,” said Williford. “I am eager to look for ways to i

The National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association has unveiled a new resource to address an aggregates industry workforce shortage during the 2016 Annual Convention and AGG1 Academy & Expo in Nashville, USA (22-24 March).

The association’s Jobs Board is designed to allow aggregates operations to highlight the good-paying, highly-skilled jobs available around the country.

“We have heard from our member companies that they continue to face a shortage of employees,” said Michael W. Johnson, association presi

Materials washing specialist CDE is to create 110 new jobs over the next six years as part of a £6.8million (€8.65 million) investment into the business.

Northern Ireland-headquartered CDE designs and manufactures materials washing and classification equipment with applications in a variety of sectors: sand and aggregates, construction waste recycling, mining, specialist industrial sands and environmental. Its regional office network has a presence in Kolkata (India), Sao Paulo (Brazil) and Cary (North A

Material handling equipment supplier the Finlay Group has appointed Rik Kiddle as its new sales and marketing director. He joins from Terex Finlay, the company’s primary business franchise, where he was global sales and business development director. He will lead the sales and marketing functions across the Finlay Group and will be responsible for strategically driving growth for the sales and after-market business.

He said: “I am very excited to be joining the Finlay Group and it’s an opportunity I’m ve

In February 2016, the price index of construction materials for new buildings dropped by 2.3%, compared with February 2015, and by 0.2% compared with January this year, according to recent data released by the national statistics office ELSTAT. In the March 2015-February 2016 period, the index fell by 2%, compared with the corresponding period in the previous term.

A study by Amikron-Consulting shows that the Russian cement market contracted in 2015 due to a decrease in construction volumes. Cement prices in 2015 remained at the same level, and as of October 2015 the profitability of cement manufacturers had decreased by 1.1% compared to October 2014, to 13.9%. Market players also have significant credit load with, for example, some cement plants paying over RUB 1 billion (€12.98 million/US$14.62 million) interest on loans a year.

The industry is also negatively a

The Seoul Central District Court in South Korea has rejected an injunction to terminate the contracts of Hyundai Cement executives including CEO Lee Joo-hwan in the middle of a battle over the ownership of the cement company.

In October 2015, Chung Mong-sun, the former chairman of Hyundai Cement, filed for the injunction, and the court has said his claims are not enough to qualify for an injunction.

During the recent shareholders' meeting, it is reported that Chung failed to convince in a bid to take

Integrated Capital (IC), the capital markets arm of UAE-based Abu Dhabi Financial Group (ADFG) will buy a 10% stake in Falcon Cement Company from GFH Financial Group.

A sale agreement in this regard has been sealed between GFH and IC, which is also interested in underwriting Falcon Cement's initial public offering planned later in 2016 on the Bahrain Bourse.

The IPO is subject to the receipt of regulatory and internal approvals.

In Cambodia, a new cement plant worth about US$262 million (€232.5 million) is being developed in Banteay Meas district of Kampot province. This will be the country's largest cement plant, with a completion date set for 2018.

The plant is set to offer around 500 direct jobs as well as another 5,000 indirect jobs.

On completion the plant will come with a daily cement output capacity of about 5,000tonnes.

The plant is a joint-venture between Thailand-based Siam City Cement Public Company and Cambodi

Sandvik Construction has appointed Victoria Equipment is its new distributor in Uganda. In addition to supplying a comprehensive range of Sandvik equipment, the company will also be providing full aftermarket care, spare parts and dedicated customer service.

The appointment of Victoria Equipment is said to demonstrate Sandvik Construction’s commitment to locally focused customer support.

Part of the GMACH Group of companies which was formed in 1960, Victoria Equipment is an established name in Uganda,