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Aerated concrete manufacturer Ytong Turkey is looking to make new investments in its production facility to make it the largest Ytong facility globally.

With the new investments, the company's production capacity in its five facilities will reach 2.5 million m³ by the end of 2015.

According to Ytong Turkey board member, Nukhet Demiren, the company has helped the country save US$10 billion (€8.82 billion) from energy consumption since the start of operations in 1963.

The Russian holding company Eurocement Group has postponed construction of a cement plant in Uzbekistan for an indefinite term.

The decision is caused by the difficulties with the project financing, including those related to the economic situation in Russia.

Algerian cement group Gica is investing DZD 154 billion (€1.28 billion/US$1.45 billion) to increase its yearly production by 38% from a current 11.5 million tonnes to 18.5 million tonnes.

This investment will lead to the creation of the Bechar and Oum El Bouaghi cement plants, which are due to be operational by the end of 2017 and will produce a yearly 3 million tonnes, and to the increase in production capacities of the Chlef and Aïn El Kebira cement plants.

CRH has completed the Philippines element of its transaction to acquire certain assets from Lafarge and Holcim for a total enterprise value of €6.5 billion.

Last month the group confirmed that the majority of the transaction was complete, with the exception of the operations in the Philippines.

Hewden has helped police track down a stolen breaker thanks to its latest investment in GPS attachment trackers.

The company received a report from specialist retail and forecourt construction contractors, Williams Southern, that a new hydraulic breaker had been stolen from its site in Southampton, southern England. It was part of a £1 million (€1. 4 million) range recently introduced by Hewden, which, in an industry first, came fitted with GPS trackers.

“As soon as we became aware of the breaker b

In August 2015, Morocco’s cement consumption rose 13% on July and 17% year-on-year.

In the first nine months, consumption rose 1.39% to 9.48 million tonnes.

Certain reasons explain this, including the end of Ramadan, a growth in self-construction, as well as regional and local elections.

The All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) recorded cement exports of 566,689 tonnes in August 2015, which is a 31.54% decline compared to the 827,707 tonnes exported in the year-ago period.

Cement exports to India fell 28% year-on-year while exports to Afghanistan they fell 18.24% during the period under review.

APCMA said that exports to Afghanistan have been slowing due to inroads by Iranian cement, which is also entering the country's market.

According to Widodo Santoso, the chairman of the Indonesian Cement Association, cement consumption during the first eight months of 2015 was at 37.26 million tonnes, a drop of 0.3% compared to a year ago.

In August 2015, total consumption was at 5.34 million tonnes, up 14.7% from the same month in 2014.

Consumption of cement can grow between 4-6% in 2015 if the infrastructure projects are implemented in accordance to the targets set up by the state.

In the first half of 2015, cement company Holcim Maroc posted a 7.8% decrease in its profit to MAD 294.41 million (€26.96 million/US$30.56 million).

The company’s operating income fell by 20% to MAD 416.72 million.

It also announced that Rachid Seffar has assumed the position of managing director on an interim basis, following the resignation of Dominique Drouet, who remains in the post of president of the management board.

The squeeze-out translation of LafargeHolcim on the shares of Lafarge not yet held by the Franco-Swiss group has been presented to the Financial Market Authority (Autorité des marchés financiers) at a price of €60 per share.

On the reopening of the takeover bid on 31 July, 2015, LafargeHolcim held 96.41% of the capital and 95.35% of the voting rights of Lafarge.

Lafarge shares are re-listed from 15 September.

Terex Finlay will be showcasing some of the company’s new model line-up at its UK Open Day in Doncaster, county South Yorkshire, England on Thursday 24th September 2015.

One of the stars of the show will be the new 873 heavy duty screener. This highly versatile machine is said to be ideally suited to working in aggregates, sand and gravel, top soil, construction demolition and recycling applications and has the capacity to process at a rate of up to 450tonnes/hour.

The full machine line up at the Donc

Powerscreen is staging an exclusive launch event for its Warrior 600 screen and Trakpactor 260 impact crusher at the ELB Equipment site in Johannesburg, South Africa from 9am-5pm on Thursday 22nd October 2015.

The launch event is part of a Powerscreen and ELB Equipment Customer Open Day, showcasing a wide number of other Powerscreen machines, at ELB’s premises close to the South African city’s O. R. Tambo International Airport.

Event organisers stress that the Customer Open Day will take place at a w

The CEA is holding its annual conference on Wednesday 18th November 2015 at the home of the Institute of Civil Engineers at One Great George Street, London, England.

This year’s conference will concentrate on the factors that will make the UK construction equipment sector even more successful – investment in infrastructure, commitment to skills and the adoption of innovative technology – with insights into market prospects and top level networking.

Nick Higham renowned broadcaster and journalist retur

Despite volatility in equity markets and concerns about global growth conditions, Portland Cement Association (PCA) expects US cement consumption to increase by 5% by the end of 2015.

PCA Chief Economist and Group Vice President Edward Sullivan said “the fundamentals in the United States are sound and should support sustained growth in construction activity.”

The US economy is characterised by steady and strong gains in net job creation, low inflation, low interest rates, improving business and consum

Danish concrete company Skako Concrete has entered into an agreement with a Swedish company concerning the delivery of pre-stressed concrete structures.

The order amounts to DKK 11.20 million (€1.5 million/US$1.68 million).

CEO Søren Pedersen says that the order is part of a strategy for the company to expand its operations on the Swedish market.

Building materials specialist Herige (previously VM Matériaux) has appointed Stéphane Jan as administrative and financial director of the company.

Data from the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association showed cement dispatches in Pakistan rose by an annual 10.24% from 2.78 million tonnes to 3.06 million tonnes in August 2015.

According to the association, the increase was driven by growing domestic sales.

In the month under review, domestic sales were up 27.99% from 1.94 million tonnes to 2.49 million tonnes, but exports were down 31.54% from 827,707tonnes to 566,689tonnes on a year-on-year basis.

Meanwhile, domestic cement sales rose

The cement sector in Senegal, represented by three companies, Ciments du Sahel, Dangote and French company Sococim-industries, has increased production by 16.5% in the second quarter of 2015 compared to the same 2014 period, and relies on exports to sell this overload. Indeed, exports have risen by 29.6% to neighbouring countries, such as Mali (+40.4%), while domestic demand, pulled by state projects as well as private works, has grown by 3.3%.

French building materials supplier Vicat has launched a new range of high-performance cements dubbed UP.

The range includes its Ultimat cement which is sulphate-resistant; its Smart cement for high-performance fibre-reinforced concrete (UHPC); its Prompt cement which is a natural eco-friendly cement, and Alpenat which is a sulfoaluminate cement.

With a total of CNY 842 million (€118.80 million/US$132.46 million), 100% equity interest in Henan Yongan Cement (Yongan Cement) will be sold to China Tianrui Group Cement (Tianrui Cement) by China-based Tianrui Group.

The acquisition will be settled via the issuance of 520 million shares in Tianrui Cement to Tianrui Group.

Once the deal is completed, Tianrui Group's shareholdings in Tianrui Cement will rise to 73.93% from current 68.28%.

The price of a share to be issued is set at CNY 1.95.