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Global earthmoving attachments specialist, Miller, has invested almost £1.5 million (€2 million) overhauling its UK manufacturing plant. The investment has focused largely on three key areas: productivity, service level and lead time reduction, which centralised on competitive bucket manufacture. Following the initial investment, some areas have already seen a significant increase in productivity, and this is set to increase further with the installation of three additional new robots to optimise capacity d

More than 130 quarry operators and contractors from across the world came to San Antonio, Texas, USA for the 10th Sandvik Construction-Dyno Nobel Quarry Academy from 17-19 November 2015. Aggregates Business editor Guy Woodford joined those taking part. Watching the constant stream of trucks and other vehicles going in and out of Cemex’s Balcones Quarry, near San Antonio, Texas, means it’s no surprise to learn it’s the largest working quarry in the United States.

The global rental market for quarrying and construction equipment varies from region to region, and can also depend on the type of machine involved, writes Guy Woodford.

CNH Industrial Construction Equipment’s Case brand has a strong rental pedigree in the UK and other parts of Europe.

Scott Freeman, CNH Industrial Construction Equipment business director for UK and Eire, said the UK rental market among traditional equipment rental customers was 3-5% up year-on-year in 2015. “We have hire purchase pac

Hope Construction Materials has introduced claimed pioneering CDE Global washing plant technology at its greenfield quarry in county Bedfordshire, UK Guy Woodford reports. The CDE Global (CDE) M2500 E4X mobile washing plant solution at Hope Construction Materials’ (Hope) ‘Black Cat’ Quarry near Roxton, county Bedfordshire is said to be the world’s first integrated mobile washing plant offering feeding, screening, sand washing and stockpiling on one compact, portable chassis, along with minimal footprint and

RSSIn temperatures that can drop as low as -50°C in winter, six 8080 Terex Trucks TR 100 rigid haulers are helping to keep Russia warm by working 24/7 at Apsatsky open pit coal mine in Siberia.

The mine, 1,700 metres above sea level, is situated in the northern-most point of Zabaykalye Territory, in the Kalarsk region and is owned by Russia’s largest coal producer, SUEK.

Cement group Lafarge is having a new-generation concrete production plant built in Nice, France, by the ABC Architectures agency.

It will be operational in September 2016 and have a 70,000m³/year production capacity at first, before a possible second production line is added.

The buildings of the plant are set to comply with High Environmental Quality standards.

The aggregates building will comprise 12 x 50m³ hoppers, while the building set to include an analysis laboratory has not yet been built

As part of efforts to increase investment in Vietnam, Indonesian businesses especially state-owned companies are encouraged by the Indonesian government to set up operations in Vietnam. Cement producer Semen Indonesia is one such company that has already expanded in Vietnam. The company had bought a cement factory in Vietnam and has been producing cement in the country since 2013. Currently, it produces almost 2 million tons of cement for export annually. Overall, there are about 20 to 30 Indonesian compani

According to data from the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA), the volume of cement exported from Pakistan during the six months ending 15 January 2016 fell on-year by 24.98% from 4.5 million tonnes to 3.4 million tonnes.

Of the total, exports of mills based in the south of the country declined 29.17% from 1.76 million tonnes to 1.24 million tonnes and those of mills in the north dropping 22.35% from 2.78 million tonnes to 2.16 million tonnes.

The results are attributed to a lack of

On a quarterly basis, the cement realisations of prominent cement producers in India for the three months to December 2015 declined by 1.8%-2%.

This is attributed to the significant focus of cement manufacturers that can afford to face reduction in cement prices due to low cost of cement output and also due to weak cement demand.

The aggregate cement volumes increased by 4.7% on a yearly basis as cement producers focused on volumes due to the decline of cement prices.

Despite the lower demand, ceme

The Egyptian Company for Solid Waste Recycling (ECARU) has signed a five-year contract to collect, transport and process local biomass for fuel to be used by Messebo Cement in Ethiopia, and supply the needed technology.

The solid biofuel will replace coal used at Messebo's plant in Mekelle.

The contract can be renewed for another five years.

ECARU is a subsidiary of Tawazon, a Qalaa Holdings subsidiary in the solid waste management.

As part of the takeover by German Group HeidelbergCement of Italcementi, Ciments du Maroc, a Moroccan subsidiary of Italcementi will come under the control of HeidelbergCement, it is reported.

HeidelbergCement is awaiting the green light from the authorities in the US and Europe.

The takeover of 45% of Italcementi by HeidelbergCement will see the creation of the second largest cement group in the world, with combined turnover of €17.80 billion (US$19.81 billion), and reported synergies of at least €1

Turkish Sabanci Holding has appointed Mehmet Hacikamiloglu as the head of its cement group.

Additionally, Umut Zenar has been appointed as Akcansa general manager

Hacikalmiloglu has been working at the holding since 1993 and Zenar has been working at Akcansa since 2004.

In 2015, Vassiliko Cement Works registered an after-tax profit of €12.80 million, compared with €5.2 million in 2014.

The significant growth was mainly achieved by the increased volume and prices of its exports, as well as the measures the company took to reduce its expenses.

Meanwhile, its total revenues rose by 7%, to €90 million, and its operating profits almost doubled to €17.8 million.

Vassiliko Cement Works is owned by Cyprus Cement, which is part of the Galatariotis Group, the Church of Cypr

Lucky Cement of Pakistan registered 15% growth in consolidated profit to PKR 7.65 billion (€65.64 million/US$73.07 million) in six months to 31 December 2015 compared to PKR 6.66 billion during the same period in 2014.

The company's domestic sales of cement went up by 28% year-on-year (year-on-year) to 1.3 million tonnes in the fourth-quarter of 2015 but cement exports dropped by 31% y-o-y to 0.4 million tonnes after South Africa imposed anti-dumping duty.

Lucky Cement's consolidated profit rose by 14

In the half year from July to December 2015, profit before tax of Pakistan’s Bestway Cement increased 37% to PKR 7.6 billion (€65.21 million US$72.59 million) from PKR 5.60 billion in the same period of 2014.

Its consolidated profit after tax also grew 47% to PKR 5.7 billion from PKR 3.9 billion, and consolidated net turnover rose 45.5% to PKR 21.10 billion from PKR 14.50 billion.

Meanwhile, consolidated domestic sales volume grew to 3.1 million tonnes, up 47% from 2.1 million tonnes, with dispatches

Compagnia Generale Trattori (CGT) is Sandvik Construction’s new distributor for mobile crushers and screens as well as surface drilling throughout Italy.

CGT will supply a comprehensive range of Sandvik equipment and provide full aftermarket care, spare parts and dedicated customer service related to the two product lines.

Sandvik says the appointment further reinforces commitment to enhanced locally-focused customer support, while enabling customers to benefit from dealing with a global company.

C

BKT, the Indian tyre manufacturer, has completed its second marketing meeting organised by for its distributors.

Held at the Quality Hotel San Martino in Garbagnate Monastero, in the Lecco Province, Italy, the event, was organised by BKT’s European subsidiary.

The meeting, specially arranged for the experts in marketing, saw the company share with more than 40 participants the results obtained in the previous year as well as the marketing and communication activities planned for 2016.

The BKT group

Italian cement manufacturer Italcementi registered a 3.5% year-on-year increase in consolidated revenues to €4.30 billion (US$ 4.84 billion) in 2015.

At the same time, EBITDA fell to €636.3 million from €656.4 million, and operating profit fell to €148.4 million from €234 million.

Net loss reached €69.3 million from €48.9 million, while operating cash flow improved by about €218 million.

At the same time, net debt equalled €2.17 billion from €2.16 billion.

The company announced that it is not

Indonesian cement company Semen Padang, sold 585,504tonnes of cement in January 2016, up 11.16% from the same month in 2015, says Benny Wendry, managing director.

The higher sale has been attributed to infrastructure development in Sumatra.

The company had earlier targeted sales of 584,000tonnes but production in the month was at 607,700tonnes.

The company is aiming for a market share of 45% in Sumatra.

In January 2016, it reported export of 25,751tonnes, 128.76% of its target.

The company

Italian cement producer Buzzi Unicem has expanded its distribution network in the US with the addition of three new terminals.

The terminals were acquired after the merger between Holcim and Lafarge., and are in Elmira, Michigan; Grandville, Michigan,and Rock Island, Illinois.

The Elmira terminal has a distribution capacity of nearly 27,000tonnes of cement; Grandville delivers an annual capacity of around 90,000tonnes of cement, while the Rock Island terminal has an annual capacity of about 70,000tonn