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It has been reported that the French government is opposed to any absorption of cement group Lafarge by Swiss group Holcim. This follows news that Holcim is seeking to alter the terms of the equal merger agreement between the two companies. Lafarge has stated that it is willing to revise the terms of the merger ratios but will not accept any change in the governance of the future entity, with the board set to contain seven board members from each company. The French government reported to be cautious about

Italcementi, the world's leading cement manufacturer, is tipping stronger growth of 2-3% cent this year, with the key driver being Asia, backed by economic recoveries in the European Union and North America. Given the forecasted growth, the group plans to expand its businesses to African countries such as Mozambique, Ghana and Tanzania, CEO Carlo Pesenti said during an interview last week with the Bangkok, Thailand-based Nation Multimedia Group. "The company foresees better performance in Asia, including Th

The creation of the world’s biggest cement company through the €42 billion merger of sector giants Holcim and Lafarge is now uncertain after Holcim’s board rejected the terms of the deal. The Swiss cement giant’s board is seeking a greater share of the combined entity after Holcim’s healthier trading and profits over the past 12 months, compared to its would-be French partner. France-based Lafarge on Monday said it received a letter on Sunday from the chairman of Holcim’s board saying the Swiss company does

Caterpillar has entered into a technology and predictive analytics agreement with Uptake, provider of a dynamic analytics and insight platform for a wide array of industries. The American construction equipment manufacturing giant has made a minority investment in Uptake and will jointly develop an end-to-end platform for predictive diagnostics to help Cat customers monitor and optimise their fleets more effectively. The new technology will be available for both Cat products and non-Cat branded products. “C

Plans for a 20 acre expansion of Lafarge Tarmac’s Mountsorrel granite quarry in county Leicestershire, England have been approved. Lafarge Tarmac Aggregate will now be allowed to extract stone from land next to the firm's present operation. Despite strong concerns from residents and environmental groups who feared the expansion would impact on wildlife in ancient woodland beauty sites nearby, Leicestershire county councillors backed the plans on Thursday 12 March 2015. Lafarge says that the deeper Mountsorr

Excavator attachment manufacturer Hill Engineering, based in Newry, Northern Ireland, has been recognised for its overall management practices by winning a Deloitte Best Managed Companies Award.

It is the first time Hill has entered these awards, although over the last two years Hill has been presented with the Plantworx Construction Machinery Exhibition’s Award for Innovation in the Engineering category and also the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Innovation, which recognises excellence in UK business e

CW Research has released its 1H2015 Quantitative Update to the benchmark Global Cement Volume Forecast Report (GCVFR), the advisory and research boutique’s twice-yearly outlook for worldwide cement market volumes. The 1H2015 revision of the report forecasts a 2.9% in the pace of global cement demand growth in 2015, up to 4.3 billion tons, following a slower-than-expected increase of 2.6%, up to 4.1 billion tons in 2014. "We are seeing the global cement market making sure steps towards a more balanced future

Cement giants Holcim and Lafarge are said by the London Financial Times to be in talks to renegotiate the terms of their multi-billion euro merger after a divergence in the value of the two companies over the past year. Citing people familiar with the matter, the paper says the two sides are holding discussions that might result in changes to the terms of the one-for-one share deal announced in April 2014. Swiss firm Holcim recently announced healthy profit growth in its Q4 2014 results, contrasting markedl

A brick production plant is currently under construction in Ipatovo, Stavropol region of the North Caucasus, Russia, with investments estimated at RUB 750 million (€11.38 million/US$12.34 million). The plant will be capable of making 60 million pieces of conventional bricks and other baked clay products/year. The facility will reach its full capacity in May 2017, and a total of 200 new jobs will be created.

Estonian producers of building materials are said to be investing in production automation to replace unskilled jobs. This is revealed in a Swedbank's manufacturing industries survey, which involved 300 manufacturers with the combined turnover of €450 million, and of which building materials producers accounted for 15%. Some 56% of the manufacturers of building materials say they targeted turnover growth (by an average 5.4%) and 47% want to improve profitability in 2015. The share of exports is forecast to

The purchase of five entities belonging to UK building materials company Hanson Building by US private equity company Lone Star has been approved by the European Commission. A UK entity and four US entities belonging to Hanson Building are affected by the purchase. The commission concluded that there would be no overlapping of activities of Hanson Building's entities, as well as Lone Star itself and its company portfolio.

The administration of the province of Davao del Sur, the Philippines, has instructed Philmix Concrete Industries (Philmix) and Q Mix Concrete Industries (Q Mix) to cease the operations of their concrete plants in Barangay Tres de Mayo and Hagonoy, respectively. The instruction is issued after the two factories were reported to have been found guilty of operating without air pollution permits, environmental compliance certificates and business licences.

The net profit of Saudi Arabia-based Qassim Cement for 2014 amounted to SAR 563.60 million (€138.74 million US$150.30 million), lower than the SAR 585 million booked for 2013. Consequently, the cement company will pay a SAR 270 million second-half cash dividend at SAR 3 per share.

Ethiopian cement major National Cement Share Company has entered into an agreement with Egypt-based ASEC Engineering and Management. The one-year deal could be renewed for a further five years. Under the deal ASEC will impart is expertise and knowledge to help National Cement operate and maintain a cement production facility in the city of Dire Dawa, Ethiopia. In addition, ASEC will also provide training and roll out systems to govern all functions at the facility, including maintenance, human resources, pr

Moroccan cement company Ciments du Maroc (Italcementi Group) has reported a 5.1% fall in its operational turnover to MAD 3.43 billion (€320.06 million/US$346.73 million), while its Ebitda fell by 7.9% to MAD 1.48 billion. The company's net profit fell slightly by 0.8% to MAD 813 million, with operational efficiency notably in substitute fuel use making up for a drop in sales. By volume, the company's sales (as well as those of its subsidiary Indusaha) fell by 5.1%, notably affected by the floods that hit th

HeidelbergCement has inaugurated the new greenfield Scantogo clinker plant in Togo. The new US$ 250 million (€236 million) plant possesses an annual capacity of 1.5 million tonnes (5,000tonnes/day) and is located at Tabligbo, some 80km north-east of the capital city Lomé. More than 2,000 guests attended the ceremony, among them the president of the Republic of Togo; the president of the National Assembly, and the German ambassador in Togo. With the Scantogo investment, HeidelbergCement has become the larges

Organisers say that major players have already signed up for BAUMA CONEXPO AFRICA 2015, which is being held at Johannesburg Expo Centre, South Africa, from 15-18 September. Barloworld Equipment is exhibiting for the first time while Bell Equipment is to take up more space than at the previous event, and there are plans for International Pavilions from nine countries and regions. The International Trade Fair for Construction Machinery, Building Material Machines, Mining Machines and Construction Vehicles is

Sandvik Construction has appointed Baltem as distributor for Sandvik’s Mobile Crushers and Screens in the Baltic. The company will not only be supplying a comprehensive range of Sandvik mobile crushers and screens, but will also be providing full aftermarket care, spare parts and dedicated customer service. A subsidiary of Sumitomo Corporation and supplier of Komatsu equipment, Baltem has become a reputable name in the Baltics since its launch in 1999 with offices, workshops and service engineers located th

Swiss cement giant Holcim has responded to widespread speculation within industry and wider business media that the terms of their pending merger with Lafarge may need to be changed due to it out performing the French firm in their latest trading results. Holcim recorded higher net sales and significantly improved operating profit in Q4 2014 ahead of their proposed merger due to be completed in the first half of this year. Although not saying they intend to seek new merger deal terms, a statement released b

HeidelbergCement is considering adding South African and Mozambique production capacity as the German company seeks to tap growing demand for construction material in Africa, reports Bloomberg. “Africa is an important part of our emerging markets exposure,” chief executive Bernd Scheifele said in a recent interview. The continent “has seen very stable growth in demand for cement in the last few years, which is independent from what’s happening in the world economy.” Demand is growing at a rate of about 5 mi