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The European Commission Programme looked ahead to push for more jobs, growth and investments in 2015 with new European Union initiatives, as well as cutting the red tape and clearing the decks.

In December 2014 the European Commission released its Work Programme for 2015, which includes a list of 23 new initiatives; a list of withdrawal or modifications of pending initiatives (80) and a list of “refits” in an attempt to cut red tape. This is in sharp contrast with the Barroso Commission, which, on an ann

All those connected to the world’s quarrying and aggregates industries were left shocked and deeply saddened by the needless and appalling massacre of 36 innocent Kenyan quarry workers by Somali al Shabaab militants on the morning of Tuesday 2 December 2014. It may not have happened in Europe, but, at times like that, the fact that the quarrying and aggregates trades are of huge global importance really hits home. I’m sure I echo the thoughts of all within our industries in expressing sincere condolences to

Eastern Europe covers a huge area and comprises a large number of countries of vastly differing sizes, so it is not surprising that the development of the aggregates industries in its constituent parts has been uneven.

General reports from several commercial and political quarters point to a generally “good momentum” in the region and at least “some stabilisation.” Individually, there are some heartening stories of thriving business, mergers, acquisitions and successful equipment segments. But some of th

Simon Trahair-Davies of Stephens Scown outlines a recent case before the General Court of the EU, where a claim by a cement company for compensation for losses under the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) was dismissed.
This case is of interest to aggregates businesses because it relates to the confidentiality of transactions within the EU Emissions Trading Scheme and whether the European Commission (EC) can be found liable for compensation for losses. Before looking at the details of this case,

With its highly innovative and expanding product portfolio for the quarrying and aggregates sector, Trimble Loadrite is geared up for strong growth in 2015. Aggregates Business Editor Guy Woodford spoke to the company’s General Manager, Johan Smet.

With its event-record 4,200 attendees from 83 countries, numerous product launches, and 584 educational sessions including both on- and off-site immersive training, Trimble Dimensions 2014, held in Las Vegas in early November 2014, is the ideal example of what

Volvo Penta has announced a new partnership with McCloskey International, one of the world’s leading independent crushing and screening companies. McCloskey will install Volvo Penta D8, D11 and D13 engines in their range of mobile jaw, cone and impactor crushers and the Volvo Penta D5 engine will be installed in mobile screeners and trommels. The announcement comes as the first McCloskey crusher with a Volvo Penta engine makes its debut at three industry shows. The high-capacity J45 heavy-duty jaw crusher w

Since the first D7E dozers were put to work on job sites in 2009, Caterpillar says its customers have saved millions of litres of diesel fuel. The latest US Tier 4/EU Stage IV emissions standard D7E model is said by Cat to continue to provide outstanding fuel efficiency, along with some new performance-enhancing features.

With an innovative diesel-electric power train, the D7E is said to deliver up to 30% better fuel efficiency and 10% more production than its conventional D7R2 predecessor. Fuel savings,

Weir Minerals has launched three products from its global BDK range of industrial valves across its European region, which includes North Africa and Kazakhstan.

The move sees Knife Gate, Diaphragm and Resilient-Seat Butterfly valves made available in response to demand from customers.

Following the roll-out, Weir Minerals expects the products to be used in several countries in a diverse range of applications.

Customers globally use BDK valves to handle slurries in the mining and minerals industries

Sandvik Mobiles’ Heavy Range secures high productivity for top Nigerian construction firm’s granite quarry processing

Specialising in infrastructure, highway and bridge projects, one of Nigeria-based Rockbridge Construction’s most recent assignments required heavy- duty machinery to process material from a granite quarry. The machinery also needed to produce a wide range of product sizes, and having previously made investments in Sandvik’s mobile equipment range, Rockbridge invested again in an UJ440i HD

The UK’s largest independent aggregates firm nearly doubled its profits in 2014 due to growing demand from construction companies and through acquisitions. Breedon Aggregates has revealed that its pre-tax profits rose 94% to €29.26 million (£21.4 million) in the 12 months to December 31 2014. Total turnover for the ambitious quarrying, asphalt and ready mixed concrete business was up a fifth to almost €370.97 million (£270 million). During 2014, it quarried 7.7 million tonnes of limestone, granite, basalt,

Case has extended its SiteWatch offering with Iridium satellite connectivity to provide its telematics services in areas without cellular network coverage. The new satellite service is offered as an additional option on the existing SiteWatch packages, enabling Case machines to transmit data from every corner of the globe even when normal cellular connectivity is totally absent. The new service is said by the Italian firm to be testament to its continuous search for solutions that help customers run their c

Doosan Construction Equipment has opened a new Parts Distribution Centre (PDC) for Bobcat and Doosan Portable Power products in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

The new PDC is a collaboration with Agility, a leading global logistics provider, which is hosting and managing the new facility at the Jebel Ali Free Zone in Dubai. The new Dubai PDC will provide parts support for dealers and customers of Bobcat and Doosan Portable Power products in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region. In combination with

Dressta machines are playing a leading role in the continuing success of a leading Polish sand and gravel mining firm, reports Marek Stakowski. Poland’s sand and gravel reserves amount to over 9.7 billion tonnes, with the greatest amounts found in the regions of Mazowieckie, Wielkopolskie, Lubelskie, Lódzkie and Podkarpackie.
One of the country’s biggest sand and gravel mining companies is Piaskarz, which has been active in the construction market since 1988. Having started out as a limited company, it wen

The Indian cement industry's production capacity to grow by 25 million tonnes/year in 2014/2015 fiscal year, 23 million tonnes/year in 2015/2016, and 8 million tonnes/year in 2016/2017, according to ICRA, a national independent credit rating agency. ICRA expects cement producers in India's eastern region to raise capacity by 20 million tonnes/year from 2014/2015 to 2016/2017, compared to 13.4 and 7.9 million tonnes/year respectively in the northern and southern region. ICRA reported that cement output grew

Holcim Maroc, the Moroccan subsidiary of Swiss cement group Holcim, posted a 33.02% net profit rise in 2014 to US$6.26 million (DZD 595.1 million). The performance is said to be slightly higher than forecasts, given a new slowdown in the north African nation’s construction sector. The improved net profit is said by Holcim Maroc to be due to an increased effort in the firm’s cost management and an improvement in operating performance. Operating income also rose 15.88% to $9.68 million (DZD 924.9 million).

Cement sales in Pakistan in February 2015 are expected to see a year-on-year increase of 2.6% to 2.8 million tonnes, according to Topline Securities data. Over the July 2014-February 2015 period, cement sales are expected to stand at approximately 23 million tonnes – up 6% year-on-year. Local dispatches for the same period are expected to expand 9.4% to 17.8 million tonnes. Exports, on the other hand, are expected to see a decline of 5.5% during the eight month period under review to 5 million tonnes. This

French cement giant Lafarge has signed an agreement to acquire SOCAM Development Limited’s 45% stake in Lafarge Shui On Cement for €294 million (HK$2,553 million), subject to the completion of its merger with Holcim. With a total cement production capacity of 32 million tonnes in Southwest China, in the provinces of
Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou and Chongqing, Lafarge Shui On Cement is now set to become a wholly-
owned subsidiary of LafargeHolcim following completion of the merger project and this purchase. Th

Spanish cement producer Cementos Portland has appointed Gerrado Kuri Kaufmann as the firm’s new CEO. Replacing Jose Luis Saenz de Miera, Kaufmann is the managing director of Inmuebles Carso, one of Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim's investments vehicle. He was recently appointed as a nominee member of Spanish construction firm FCC, Cementos Portland's parent company. Other Cementos Portland board changes include the departure of second vice-president and second largest shareholder of FCC Esther Koplowitz, Rafael

Metso has appointed McHale Plant Sales as exclusive agent in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland for its mobile rock crushing and screening product lines. Under the new arrangement with McHale, the Irish company begins selling Metso products with immediate effect with primary focus on the Lokotrack mobile crushing and screening plants, equipment that McHale believes will have significant appeal for Irish customers. The appointment sees McHale Plant Sales return to the crushing and screening market

This video shows Sandvik’s QE440 mobile scalping screen in a recent aggregates and topsoil production application at Welton Aggregates in Lincolnshire, county England. The extremely powerful QE440 is said by the Swedish crushing and screening equipment giant to have a fines conveyor alone designed to handle up to 900tonnes/hour. The model features a heavy duty I-beam chassis, apron feeder, reinforced hopper doors and impact bar lined overs conveyor as standard. Designed to accept the most robust of infeed m