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ARM Cement, formerly Athi River Mining, has won local government approval for its proposed US$285m limestone mining plant in Kyuso district, Kenya.

Minerals executive George Mulatya is reported as saying the cement firm is looking to set up a clinker and cement manufacturing plant which will create 7,000 jobs and give the government $3 million/year in revenue.

Mulatya has also reportedly pointed out that although 2,000 residents will be displaced due the massive project, the county government will saf

Screening, crushing, recycling and materials handling equipment distributor Blue Group has been appointed UK distributors for the range of specialist screening and crushing excavator buckets manufactured by Hartl of Austria.
“To us, Hartl specialist buckets seem an obvious extra string to our bow. The clever design, build quality and performance of their buckets can only enhance our reputation for providing the best possible equipment available,” says Pat McGeary, Blue Group managing director.
“We already

International construction equipment manufacturer Chicago Pneumatic has expanded its footprint in Estonia with the appointment of two new authorised distributors, Melker Baltik, which will distribute hand-held compaction equipment and hand-held hydraulic tools, and Alas Kuul, which has been appointed to handle sales of portable compressors and hand-held pneumatic equipment.

Ralf Majchrzak, business development manager for Chicago Pneumatic in Scandinavia and the Baltics, said: "With these strategic appo

Allu Finland has appointed Ola Ulmala as a new president of the company.

With years of experience in earthmoving and mining sectors, he will start working for Allu at the start of Septerber 2014, while the current president Kauko Pylväs continues his duties as a president of the Allu Group.

Ola Ulmala is Master of Science in Technology and previously worked as a vice president of product area breaking at Sandvik Mining and Construction where his duties included Rammer and Sandvik hammers, demolition e

Terex Washing Systems (TWS) says its Open Day in at Dubbo Sands, Dubbo, New South Wales, Australia, the first of several planned events for 2014, was a big success.

Dubbo Sands’ showcased the company’s the plant, in collaboration with TWS Australian distributor, Mineral Washing Solutions (MWS).

An “exceptional number” of potential customers from leading material companies, throughout Australia, Queensland, NWS and Victoria, attended the event.

bauma Conexpo Africa will be held every three years after the 2015 show in line with what organisers say is the construction machinery and mining industry’s wish.

Africa's largest trade fair for the construction machinery and mining industry, which premiered in 2013, will next take place at the Johannesburg Expo Centre (JEC) from September 15 to 18, 2015. The new three-year show cycle will see the following event staged in 2018.

Elaine Crewe, CEO of organisers BC Expo South Africa, said, "We made thi

The bC India exhibition, being held at the India Expo Centre in Greater Noida, Delhi from December 15 to 18, 2014, is to occupy 120,000m² of space—including some 90,000m² of outdoor exhibition space.

Igor Palka, CEO of the organiser, bC Expo India, said he is very satisfied with preparations for the high-profile showpiece event for the construction, building material and mining machinery industries. "We understand that, despite all the positive signs, the Indian market is still struggling at this time,

Shortages of raw materials, including cement, could harm Kuwait’s booming construction sector.

While contracts worth US$17.5 billion already signed or on offer so far in 2014, shortages of cement and other raw materials could reportedly lead to build delays and cost increases.

In a new report, the value of contracts in the pipeline for 2014 represents more than a 50% increase on $11.17bn worth of contracts awarded in 2013, according to business consultancy Ventures Middle East.

Project values have

Hanson CEO Patrick O’Shea says a UK housebuilding boom has not raised construction spending to pre-recession levels as investors still hesitate to build office blocks and shopping centres.

“Everyone gets very euphoric about the housing recovery, thinking that the UK construction industry hs recovered,” O’Shea said in a phone interview with Bloomberg news agency. “It’s still 20 percent below where it was at the peak, even with the housing and the infrastructure booms, which are both by-and-large governme

Saudi Arabia has imported 3.1 million tonnes of cement worth US$199.94 million (SAR 750 million) over the last nine months and demand for cement is increasing by 3% to 5% annually, according to the country’s customs department.

The rise in cement imports is attributed to growth in national construction projects. Saudi Arabia is said to have 15 cement plants with total output of 60 million tonnes/year in Saudi Arabia and they are estimated to be currently producing 55 million tonnes/year of cement worth $

The Chinese building material sector saw a 13.2% rise to US$358.13 billion (CNY 2.2 trillion) in its revenue during H1 2014, compared to the same period of last year.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the sector's gross profit hit $22.9 billion (CNY 141 billion), up by 21.8%; while the fixed assets investment rose 14.3% to $100.68 billion (CNY 619.9 billion). Meanwhile, the sector earned $15.5 billion from exports value, up by 8.9%. During H1 2014, production of flat glass

Ireland’s CRH may spend up to €1.5 billion on acquisitions over the next 18 months, after the building-materials supplier reported a 27% rise in H1 2014 earnings.

“We’ve got the capacity to do things, it’s just a question of seeing the right deals come in and doing them when we see them,” chief executive Albert Manifold said in an interview at Bloomberg’s London office.

“We have over €4bn of available funds and we think over the next 12 to 18 months, we could easily spend €1.5bn on deals.”

Earnings

Limak Afrique SA, a new joint venture involving Limak of Turkey and Afrikbat of the Ivory Coast, is to invest US$50 million to develop concrete and cement production in the Ivory Coast. The new joint venture firm is 51% owned by Limak, with 49% belonging to Afrikbat. Afrikbat CEO Edoh Jean-Claude Ayanou will manage the joint venture. A key part of the joint venture investment will be a 1 million m³/year capacity concrete production facility set to be completed by September 2015.

It is estimated that Lima

Reliance Cements will build a grinding unit in Gowribidanur and one manufacturing and a quarrying unit in Sedam in the Gulbarga district of southern India. The Sedam project will comprise a 3.6 million tonnes/year of clinker and an integrated 5.5 million tonnes/year of cement plant as well as a 75-megawatt power plant, with the project to cost US$427.49 million (INR 26 billion). The 3 million tonnes/year cement grinding unit in Gowribidanur will cost $113.45 million (INR 6.9 billion). in addition, Reliance

FLSmidth has won a contract worth €68 million (DKK 507 million) from Nyumba Ya Akiba to supply a complete package of equipment and engineering for a greenfield cement plant in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The plant will be located in the province of Bas-Congo, approximately 250km west of the capital Kinshasa.
Nyumba Ya Akiba is a joint venture between Pakistani Lucky Cement and the Rawji Group of the DRC. With both parties well established players in the cement industry and in the commercial se

China-based Henan Tongli Cement's operating income reportedly increased by 6.58% year-on-year to US$319.71 million (CNY 1.96 billion) January-June 2014. The company's net profit grew 134.03% to $10.37 million (CNY 63.8 million), with its earnings per share (EPS) amounting to around CNY 0.15.

Henan Tongli Cement produced 6.11 million tonnes of cement in H1 2014, translating into a 3% growth. The firm’s clinker production rose by 17% to 6.67 million tonnes. For 2014, Henan Tongli Cement plans to produce 14

In line with government policy on cutting cement exports, Taiwan Cement plans to reduce its local cement output from 8.4 million tonnes in 2013 to 7 million tonnes in 2014. According to Taiwan Cement Senior Vice President Edward Huang the firm plans to increase its cement price in China's Jiangsu Province by US$3.25-$4.87 (CNY 20 – 30 per tonne) from $42.26 (CNY 260) per tonne by end-August 2014. The cement price in China's Guangdong Province will be increased by the same amount per tonne from $50.38 (CNY 3

Montreal, Canada-based Major Wire Industries has appointed Alain Durand as vice president of international sales.

He has worked with Major Wire as a global market development consultant since May 2013, and in his new role he will continue to develop and manage international markets for the company, in conjunction with Germany-based Haver & Boecker, to further promote Major Wire’s industry-leading reputation and to increase sales for its Flex-Mat 3 and OptimumWire screen media product lines. Haver & Boeck

IronPlanet, the online auction company for pre-owned construction, mining and agricultural equipment, will hold its first-ever West African online auction in Ghana on 3 September, 2014.

In conjunction with their alliance partner, GraysOnline, IronPlanet will be selling over 100 items of surface and mining equipment as well as a wide range of heavy construction machinery. The auction will feature machines from Caterpillar, Komatsu and many other top brands, and in preparation for the auction.

Matt Bous

Construction brick production in Russia totalled 5.54 billion items in January-June 2014.

The figures increased by 5.4% compared with H1 2013.

The amount of ceramic brick produced was 3.87 billion items (+4%) and sand-lime brick was 1.79 billion items (+15,4%).

The factory price of ceramic brick totalled RUB 7.90 (€0.16/US$0.22) per item (+6.1%) and sand-lime brick's price amounted to RUB 5,9 (-0.6%) in June 2014.