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The asphalt market is increasing after a number of years of falling demand, which is great news for everyone involved in the sector.

But it creates a huge challenge to an industry that has contracted substantially during the recession. Denis Curran, major projects director at Hanson UK, discusses the steps the company has taken to ensure it is ready to meet the mounting demand for its products.

The asphalt market rose by 9% in 2014 and is expected to increase by a further 5% this year.

In addition,

As the world’s ready supplies of natural materials diminish, the reuse or recycling of existing materials has taken on a new urgency.

No matter what the product, many countries have in place targets that they would like to achieve for the recycling of waste, with quarry products high on the list.

High quality conveyors, stackers and stockpilers can be found in all successful quarry operations. Guy Woodford looks at the latest products of some leading sector names, along with the production ethos of one prominent European conveyor and stacker solution firm.

In many industrial processes, such as the cement industry, the regularity of the raw materials used plays an important role in the manufacture of products. This uniform consistency is ensured through blending beds located within the storage fac

Fuel consumption, ease of movement and installation, emissions, and the use of recycled materials are today among some of the key factors for asphalt plant manufacturers.

Obviously, quality of end product is also paramount to operators, and recent developments have shown that the major producers are delivering on all counts.

For example, Ammann says that its new EcoBatch asphalt plant offers both versatility and mobility in a single compact modular package that can deliver 60-80tonnes/hour of high qua

In Hungary, the Danish-owned building materials producer Cembrit has completed the modernisation of its plant in Nyergesujfalu.

The trial run has been launched.

Investment costs totalled HUF 7 billion (€22.31 million), and the facility has a capacity to produce 35,000tonnes of fibre-cement tiles/year.

In 2013, the company earned HUF 472 million in revenue and it suspended production in 2014 due to the modernisation.

Its revenue is expected to jump to HUF 10 billion as a result of the development

The European Commission has given its approval for the takeover of Dutch company Deli Building Supplies by Dutch building materials company PontMeyer.

Deli Building Supplies owns several providers of timber and building materials, including Astrimex, RET Bouwproducten and Jongeneel.

The deal was examined using the normal merger procedure.

Lucky Cement of Pakistan is to use the SAP Enterprise System on HANA database that will see the system being integrated in all departments as well as operations including supply chain, finance and production.

Furthermore, the SAP system will allow Lucky Cement to operate in a paperless environment, while a deal has been signed by Siemens Pakistan (Siemens) and the cement company for the use of the SAP solution.

The Commissioner for Cemindo Gemilang, Vince Erlington Indigo, said that the cement producer's market share has grown by 440% to 3.68% since its launch in 2012.

It now markets its product via a network of 1,500 retailers in Jakarta and its surrounding areas including Banten.

The company’s plant in Banten is expected to start production in September 2015.

Tanzania Portland Cement Company (TPCC) saw its revenue climb by 18% on-year to TZS 135.74 billion (€55.95 million/US$63.73 million) in the first six months of 2015.

Despite the increase in turnover, the company's net profit slumped by 18% year-on-year from TZS 27.14 billion to TZS 22.17 billion during the six months to 30 June 2015.

TPCC cited that the decline in profit was caused by the weakening local currency, which led to higher production costs.

A new financial joint venture company will be jointly established by the Chinese cement and clinker producer, China Tianrui Group Cement, its parent company and its sister company.

China Tianrui Group Cement, which will be contributing CNY 105 million (€14.44 million/US$16.42 million) to the new joint venture company, will own a 35% shareholding in the new company.

The final joint venture memorandum has been signed by the three companies, and it will own a registered capital of CNY 300 million.

Renovation of the Holcim (Rus) plant in Volsk, the Saratov region (Volga), Russia, is progressing according to schedule.

The semi-dry production line will be launched in 2016, and the renovation will be finished in 2018.

The modern dust separation equipment set up at the plant will sufficiently reduce the emission of dust to the atmosphere. The heat energy consumption will decrease by 40%.

Siam Cement Group (SCG) of Thailand has increased the number of production lines at its cement factory in Kampot, Cambodia to two with an investment of US$120 million (€103.45 million).

Following the commissioning of the new line, the annual output capacity of the Kampot factory has been raised to 2 million tonnes.

In the meantime, SCG is reported as saying it plans to spend in the range of US$200 million-US$300 million to expand the presence of its construction material brands in Cambodia.

The exp

The managing director of Semen Padang, Benny Wendry said that the physical construction of the Indarung VI cement plant is now 58.4% completed.

The IDR 3.80 trillion (€241.10 million/US$274.25 million) plant is scheduled to start operations in 2016.

Following the operations of the plant, the company’s cement output will increase by 3 million tonnes to 10.4 million tonnes.

The companies involved in the construction of the plant include Bukaka Teknik Utama; Barata Indonesia; Wijaya Karya Konstruksi;

As much as 1.61 million tonnes of crushed stone was imported Russia in July 2015.

Of that amount 82.2% was imported from Ukraine: 10.6% by Technobud; 10% by Korostensky Shchebzavod, and 8.5% by Unigran.

Norway was the second with 15.6%: 55.6% by Oster Pukk OG sand and 37.9% by Yeoman Halsvik.

Ireland-based Kingspan's trading profits approached €112 million (US$127.56 million) for the first six months of 2015 after a 61% yearly hike.

The building insulation company's revenues, which totalled to €1.24 billion, experienced an almost 40% gain.

The UK and the US, accounting for 50% of the company’s yearly revenues, were among locations which demonstrated constant rebounds.

A 61% growth was seen in the profit of the main area of insulated panels, where sales went up 43%.

CEO Gene Murtagh s

FLSmidth & Co has released its interim report for 1 January to 30 June, 2015.

The main conclusions of the report are that the outlook for the global mining industry has deteriorated in recent weeks, which has had an adverse impact on management's assessment of business risks and earnings in 2015, and as a consequence the full-year EBITA (earnings before amortisation and impairment of intangible assets) margin guidance is lowered to 7-8% (previously 9-10%).

The adjusted EBITA margin in Q2 was 9.2% (rep

Many of today’s major construction machinery manufacturers can trace their histories back to small beginnings.
For example, Volvo Construction Equipment has grown from a small machine shop in Eskilstuna, Sweden, to become the town’s largest private employer.
Started in 1832, it claims to be oldest industrial company in the world still active in construction machinery.
Eskilstuna, 100km west of the capital Stockholm, is home to several Volvo operations, the largest of which is Volvo CE (other companies,

The ongoing tough global economic climate, coupled with savvy customers looking to secure the best deals for new and used construction equipment, is significantly increasing interest in OEM finance packages and government tax incentives to encourage sales. Guy Woodford reports. Stenor Environmental Services Limited is an aggregate soil recycling business which also offers demolition services, plant hire and haulage. Operating from its base in the heart of Swansea, south Wales, Stenor has a waste licence fac

Well-suited to extreme weather conditions and packed with features to ensure smoother on-site operation, the latest haulers being manufactured by leading sector OEMs are proving a big hit on both sides of the Atlantic, as Guy Woodford reports.

After a comprehensive evaluation of its fleet, family-run mining business Art Wilson Company, recently bought four Terex Trucks TA400 articulated haulers to replace its fleet of rigid dump trucks (RDTs) at its Adams Claim Mine in Carson City, USA.
This successful

Two leading crushing and screening OEMs have been showcasing new models to European customers, while another is doing great business in South Korea. Guy Woodford reports. Powerscreen recently hosted an exclusive two-day Nordic Open Days Event in Stockholm, Sweden, in conjunction with local distributors, Aksel Benzin A/S (Denmark), BePe (Sweden), Scandia Maskin (Norway), Verkfaeri (Iceland) and Vimelco (Finland).