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World demand for cement is projected to rise 4.5% per year to 5.2 billion tonnes in 2019, according to a new study by the US-based Freedonia Group.

Cement sale gains will continue to be driven by healthy increases in construction activity in developing countries throughout the Asia/Pacific and Africa/Mideast regions. The massive Chinese market will continue to be the largest driver of growth, accounting for over half of the increase in global cement demand through 2019. North America will also post stro

CRH CEO Albert Manifold says the construction materials giant is on track to deliver “another year of growth” after the firm’s H1 2015 reported sales increased 13% to €9.4 billion; down 1% in Europe and up 26% in the Americas compared to the same period of 2014.

Sales from continuing operations increased 17%; up 3% in Europe and up 32% in the Americas. EBITDA from continuing operations is up 29%; up 4% in Europe and up 57% in the Americas. Meanwhile, margins are up in all six operating divisions.

CRH

For the third time HeidelbergCement has initiated the Quarry Life Award, an international scientific and educational competition to find new ideas for the conservation and promotion of biodiversity in quarries. These unique habitats will be opened again for research.

Thanks to the Quarry Life Award, young people (students, graduates and scientists) will have the chance add true ecological and educational value to a mining site.

“Our company is committed to promote the exceptional local flora and fauna

Tanzania Portland Cement, which trades as Twiga on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange, posted a H1 2015 net profit of TZS22.17 billion (US$10.4 million)- down from TZS27.14 billion ($12.5 million) - recorded during the corresponding period last year.

Revenue of the HeidelbergCement subsidiary, the largest cement producing firm in Tanzania, in the first half went up by 18% to TZS135.74 billion ($62.54 million) as sales increased but cost of sales chewed up revenue by almost two-third.

Twiga chairman Jean

The global white cement market is expected to exhibit moderate growth in the short and medium terms driven by the revival of the global construction industry and strong demand from emerging markets, according to a new report.

The global demand of white cement is currently much lower than that of grey cement and currently accounts for less than 1% of the current global cement consumption.

Its price and profit margins, however, are higher than grey cement. China currently represents both the world’s b

Sika Srbija , the Swiss-owned materials company for the construction sector in Serbia, has reported that it registered a 25% sales increase in H1 of 2015 in comparison with the same period of 2014.

By the end of 2015, the company is predicting that the export of its products will reach 3,000tonnes.

So far, the company has invested CHF 5 million (€4.64 million) in its Simanovac plant.

It has been reported that the Belgian company Karmeus is planning to invest a total of €7 million (US$7.97 million) in the Serbian plaster factory Jelen Do, over the next five-year period.

The announcement is said to have been made by Karmeus's vice president for sales and marketing for Europe, Julian Denvers.

He said that the Serbian company, acquired in 2013 for €9.6 million, has had €1.5 million invested in its modernisation.

The latest Builders Merchants Panel from GfK shows that general builders merchants in the UK saw sales increase by 12.8% in the second quarter of 2015 in comparison to the first quarter of 2015.

Total sales rose from £1.2 billion (€1.65 billion US$1.88 billion) to £1.36 billion (€1.86 billion), the highest level recorded since tracking began in July 2014.

Sales of landscaping products rose by 62.4% quarter-on-quarter, while sales of heavy building materials rose by 13.5%.

The Builders Merchants Fed

Between 26 August 2015 and 23 October 2015, Taiwan-based Taiwan Goldsun Building Materials (Goldsun Building) will be repurchasing 100 million of its shares on the open market.

The price will be TWD 6 (€0.16/US$0.18) to TWD 10 apiece, announced the ready-mixed concrete manufacturer and distributor.

The share buy-back proposal, which will involve 6.58% of Goldsun Building's outstanding shares, was approved by the company's board on 25 August 2015.

Goldsun Building plans to stabilise its share price

LafargeHolcim Russia has released Master cement in bags with a new design, developed with regard to buyer preferences.

The package mostly retained its previous style, but features a number of new details making the information on the product and its use easier to perceive visually.

China-based cement supplier Tangshan Jidong Cement (Jidong Cement) posted an improvement from a net loss of CNY 175 million (€23.56 million/US$27.32 million) in the first six months of 2014 to a net profit of CNY 198 million in the same period of 2015.

Operating revenue plunged 27.7% to CNY 5.112 billion.

Sales of clinker and cement suffered a decline of 22.22% and 18.49% to 4.9 million tonnes and 26.27 million tonnes respectively.

Production of clinker fell by 24.65% to 21.64 million tonnes, whi

China-based cement maker Gansu Shangfeng Cement reported that its profit attributable to shareholders declined by 73.7% year-on-year to CNY 53.98 million (€7.30 million/US$8.43 million) between January 2015 and June 2015.

Operating revenue was down by 28.25% to CNY 982 million.

A new US$800 million (€702.42 million) cement plant in Indonesia's Tuban of East Java has been inaugurated by Holcim Indonesia.

The plant was launched to bolster the company's market grip in certain regions of the nation and areas targeted for distribution of products from the plant include Sumatra, East Java and Kalimantan.

The cement maker's existing capacity will be boosted to 12.5 million tonnes/year with the Tuban plant, which was designed to have a cement production capacity of 3.4 million tonne

Researchers at the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI) say they have shown that using cold mix asphalt concrete instead of traditional warm mix asphalt concrete is an effective way of reducing environmental impact.

The cold mix asphalt technique requires less energy and reduces emissions of greenhouse gases.

Safwat Said, research leader at VTI, says that interest in cold mix asphalt has grown in recent years due to an increased interest in reducing greenhouse gases and optimis

The Moroccan Ministry of Equipment is presenting the first version of a decree regarding quarries, and has met with professional organisations to discuss it.

This is the first of some 20 decrees to come on the matter.

This version outlines that the Ministry of Equipment is the central authority regarding quarry operating declarations.

Matters such as the final configuration of the requirements specification as well as what will come of cooperatives and associations exploiting quarries without a tax

Marmomacc, one of the leading global events for the natural stone industry, will make the most of its 50th edition to become the international stage to celebrate Italian excellence in this sector, says the organisers.

This will be achieved with the support of the Ministry for Economic Development (MISE), the Italian Trade Agency and Confindustria Marmomacchine.

Using special funds set aside by MISE to promote major Made in Italy sectors through reference exhibition platforms, Marmomacc (30 September-

According to a new report by Timetric’s Construction Intelligence Center (CIC), the US construction industry is set to pick up over the next five years.

Timetric forecasts that the construction sector’s average annual growth is set to accelerate in real terms from 1.7% during the review period to 3.1% over the forecast period, increasing from US$1 trillion in 2014 to US$1.1 trillion in 2019 in real terms.

Investments to modernise the country’s aging infrastructure and renewable energy sector alongsid

Asphalt is used mainly for the construction and maintenance of roads, and as demand for such infrastructure takes off worldwide so demand for the product grows.

A blend of aggregates, binder (usually bitumen) and filler is used in the different layers of a highway pavement, and today is produced and laid using sophisticated equipment.
Xi’an, north-west China, home to the famous Terracotta Warriors, was once the country’s imperial capital where, over 2,000 years ago, Emperor Qin Shi Huang had a passion

Years ago, workers at the quarry of Quenast in Belgium spent long days at the gruelling task of handcrafting iron-hard cobblestones for city streets around the world, including New York. However, the quarry’s most important product was its high quality gravel.

Today, all that has gone, and while there is still evidence of the site of the old industry at the quarry, 30km south-west of Brussels, the land is now partly used for a gentler purpose: to highlight nature and biodiversity.

The 2.4km trail arou

Breedon Aggregates, the UK’s largest independent aggregates business, has announced that Pat Ward, currently CEO of Aggregate Industries (AI) Europe (a subsidiary of LafargeHolcim, has agreed to join the company as group chief executive officer.

He will succeed Simon Vivian, who, having led Breedon since its creation has indicated his wish to step down as group CEO and will move to a non-executive role with the company.