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Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal has carried out an inspection of the extension project of the Ain El Kebira cement factory in the Sétif province of Algeria. Due to be completed by the October 2016, the extension will allow the factory to go from a production capacity of 1.3 million tonnes to 3.3 million tonnes/year. Sellal reportedly considers that, once the extension works are complete, Algeria will no longer have to import cement, with national cement exports possible by 2018.

Thailand’s Siam Cement Group (SCG) is looking to increase investment in its Cambodian operations from US$277 million to $477 million by the end of 2020. Under the new investment plan, the bulk of the new funds will go on SCG’s Cambodian building material and cement units, disclosed the company’s CEO and president Kan Trakulhoon.

South Africa's International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) had begun enforcing anti-dumping duties ranging from over 14% to 77% on Portland cement made in or imported from Pakistan. The duties will last for a period of five years if no review on the duty rates is made by the relevant South African authorities. As such, anti-dumping duties of 63.53% and 68.87% will be imposed on cement produced by Pakistan-headquartered Attock Cement and DG Khan Cement respectively, while similar duties of 77.15% an

The ‘adjustment’ in European construction investment is expected to come to an end in 2015, which should allow it to gather pace in 2016 and 2017, according to the latest CECE (Committee for European Construction Equipment) Quarterly Economic Bulletin.

The CECE bulletin, which will provide encouragement to European building materials suppliers, says support for construction investment should mainly come from the relatively strong growth in household real disposable income, low mortgage rates, and a retur

Caterpillar, the world’s biggest construction equipment manufacturer, has been ordered to pay US$73.6 million (€67.6 million) in damages in a lawsuit by a former supplier that accused the US giant of misappropriating its trade secrets.

Terex Trucks has supplied a leading Zimbabwean granite aggregate producer with its fourth rigid dump truck after its existing trucks proved their value at two of the company’s biggest quarries. Davis Granite recently added a TR45 to its fleet of four Terex Trucks rigid haulers. Operating at its Bulawayo and Harare quarries, the updated Davis Granite fleet includes two TR45s and two TR60s. The machines are hauling approximately 80,000 tonnes/month of stone products, 12 hours a day, five days a week, with the

Semem’s new Rembang, Indonesia cement plant is due to begin production within the next 12 months. Work on the IDR 4.60 trillion (US$ 329.46 million) facility is said to be 80% complete. The revised 2016 production start date comes after Semem had initially envisaged the first cement to come out of the site in early 2017. Once completed, the Rembang plant will be able to raise Semem’s cement production capacity by a further 3 million tonnes/year.

Sri Lankan concrete manufacturing company Sierra Readymix was commended for best operational practices, processes, systems and initiatives and adjudged as one of the Top 23 Best Practices in the world at the 4th International Best Practice Competition in the Philippines. The company was recognised for its environmentally-friendly efforts, which include Sierra's water conservation initiative and implementation of Sri Lanka’s first green batching plant for cements.

Turkish cement firm Limak Cimento is reportedly keen to make an African acquisition worth €1 billion. National media reports the firm possibly buying an unnamed African firm's operations in three countries. Limak Cimento already has investments in Mozambique and the Ivory Coast due to start production in 2016 and 2017 respectively. The company intends to have an integrated cement facility in Africa in three years.

Hong Kong-based Energy International Investments Holdings’ (Energy International) CNY 185 million (US$28.54 million) acquisition of Samoa-based Mission Achiever includes a 51% shareholding in a China-based company involved in the sale of building materials, asphalt, petrochemical additives, chemical products and fuels, as well as import and export, port and dock construction and investment.

The French building supplies sector could be set for a good recovery in 2016, according to Union nationale des industries de carrières et matériaux de construction (Unicem), the French national union for quarries and construction materials.

British Gypsum has announced its annual Corporate Responsibility Review, highlighting the firm's latest achievements in economic sustainability, social commitment and improvements to reduce its products’ environmental impact. The building materials giant says it has been able to send zero waste to landfill for the fifth consecutive year. The company has also become the first producer of interior lining systems to attain a BES 6001 'Excellent' rating for its Gypframe metal components, Glasroc specialist boar

China-based Huaxin Cement is preparing to invest US$150 million in building a cement production plant in Kazakhstan’s Aktobe region. A linked agreement on the project was finalised by Aktobe's provincial governor and Huaxin Cement on 13 December 2015. The cement plant is due to have production capacity of 1.5million tonnes/year and will use natural gas instead of coal in its production process.

Chinese investors are reportedly looking to build a cement plant in the Osh region of the Kyrgyz Republic. The facility will have a 2 million tonnes/year capacity, and its output is intended for the domestic market.

As part of the reparation of the southern dyke of the Port of Le Havre, the Mexican building materials giant Cemex will be providing C40 XS3 - Dmax20 concrete, which is resistant to pressure.

Aggregates producers could be about to see their materials in high demand in Qatar after reports in The Gulf Times that rulers are preparing to invest QAR 261 billion (US$ 71.67 billion) in infrastructure development. The huge investment will focus on water, electricity, transport and sewage networks as well as road expansion projects.

Of the total QAR 261 billion new infrastructure budget, QAR 87 billion will be spent on transport sector development, including on port infrastructure and new rail projec

Novoroscement, one of Russia’s major cement producers, may become the general sponsor of the Kuban football club (South). A decision on whether the Novorossiysk headquartered company obtains its football goal will be made in the near future.

Mexican cement giant Cemex has applied a cement price rise of between 10% and 12%. The increase, which took effect from 14 December 2015, affects 50kg sacks of grey cement. From 1 January 2016, the same price rise will be applied to the firm’s concrete and bulk cement. The current price of a sack of grey cement stands at MXN 217 (US$12.47) plus VAT, bulk cement will expand up to MXN 250 ($14.59) plus VAT and concrete up to MXN 160 ($9.33) plus VAT. Cemex has increased prices four times during 2015 to reach

Lafarge Zambia (Lafarge), in partnership Congolese Railways and Zambia Railways, has commissioned a new modern rail loading facility in Ndola. The new facility will increase cement exports into the Democratic Republic of Congo (Congo (DR). Lafarge aims to load 400tonnes/week of cement in 2016, and exceed that figure in 2017. Additionally, the company plans a four-fold increase in the 150,000tonnes/year of cement exports to Zimbabwe, Malawi and Congo (DR).

LafargeHolcim and CDC Group (CDC), the UK’s development finance institution, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to set up a company to produce and promote an affordable low-carbon construction solution for developing countries.

The new company aims to scale-up production of earth-cement bricks, a simple, reliable, affordable and environmentally-friendly building material that was launched by LafargeHolcim in Malawi in 2013.

Deforestation and forest degradation account for the majority of Malawi