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The board of Pakistan's Lucky Cement is reported to be about to announce a recommendation to its shareholders to inject US$202.9 million (PKR 20 billion) into developing a 660 MW coal-based power plant. To be located in Karachi, the plant will be held by a new entity named Lucky Power, indirectly 75% held by Lucky Cement through its subsidiary Lucky Holdings (LHL). The total project bill is estimated at US$1.08bn, to be financed with debt and equity at an estimated 75:25 ratio.

Cemex say improved trade in the US, Mediterranean, South America, Central America, the Caribbean and Asia , and the higher price of its products in local currency terms in most of its operations, has led to the Mexican building material giant’s 4% increase to US$4.2 billion in Q2 2014 consolidated net sales, compared to the same period of 2013.

With controlling interest net income at $76 million in the quarter, Cemex posted its first quarterly profit since 2009. Cemex’s operating EBITDA increased year-

The MPA (Mineral Products Association) and its members have been taking significant action on a key recommendation in the UK House of Commons Transport Committee Cycling Safety report relating to Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs), published today.

One of the Committee’s recommendations (16) calls on the freight industry to “create a culture of safety among HGVs” and requests “the establishment of a timetable for the development of an industry-wide code of conduct”. In support of this, MPA had already launched

The recovery of the UK construction market is said to be the key behind Breedon Aggregates reporting a 25% increase in sales in the opening six months of 2014, compared to the same period previous year. Pre-tax profits rose from €6.71 million to €11.89 million, while turnover rose from €126.79 million to €158.43 million. Aggregate sales were 3.6 million tonnes, against 2.7 million last time, with asphalt sales up from 0.6 million to 0.7 million tonnes. Ready-mixed concrete sales rose from 283,000m³ to 326,0

The €160 million upgrade of Devnia Cement factory in Bulgaria, part of Italian-owned Italcementi Group Bulgaria, is due to be completed by the close of September 2014. The project began in summer 2012, and the plant's new production line may be finished three months ahead of schedule. It will have an annual capacity of 1.5 million tonnes. Italcementi is one of Bulgaria's leading foreign investors, having put more than €204.52 million into its plants based there.

Saudi Cement posted a net profit of €56.58 million (SAR 288 million) in Q2 2014, down 6.2% year-on-year. However, this figure is higher than the €53.66 million (SAR 272.7 million) forecast by six Reuters-polled industry analysts.

Egypt minister of investment Ashraf Salman said the government is planning is planning to issue licenses to build cement plants when two planned economic stimulus packages worth €6.62 billion are implemented. He said investors that are able to import gas and set up power plants can apply for the permits, with the government determining the areas where the plants can be built.

Sagar Cements has sold its interest in Vicat Sagar Cement to French construction materials group Vicat. Vicat Sagar Cement is an India-based joint venture between Sagar and Vicat. Vicat now holds 100% of capital in Vicat Sagar Cement. Vicat Sagar Cement operates a cement works with an annual production capacity of 3 million tonnes. Along with its interest in Bharati Cement, Vicat controls cement production of 8 million tonnes/year in India. Vicat generated turnover of €155 million in the country in 2013, up

Chinese cement firm Shan Zho is planning to set up a cement plant with a capacity of over 1 million tonnes/year of products in Tajikistan’s Gorno-Badakhshan autonomous area. The project is being valued at up to €442.12 million, with the government of the autonomous area said to be willing to grant benefits to it.

Currently, Tajikistan has two large cement plants: Tajikcement (1.1 million tonnes/year) and Tajik-Chinese joint venture Huaxin Gayur Cement (1 million tonnes/year).

Cement consumption in Spain is expected to fall 3% to 10.4 million tonnes during 2014, according to new Oficemen figures. However, the same source believes domestic consumption will grow in 2015. Demand for cement across Spain should be around 20-25 million tonnes/year, says Oficemen.

Italian marble and stone specialist Stone Italia saw a €34 million turnover in 2013 and expects this to increase by 10% in 2014, with exports increasing to account for 65% of total turnover. Stone Italia has signed a contract with Kuwait City University which will see the former providing the latter with 94,500m² of flooring. The firm has also signed contracts with Avia Park in Moscow, Russia and Tawar Mall in Doha, Qatar. These two contracts have a combined value of €8mn. The contracts signed in the Middle

India: OCL to spend €75.33 million in West Bengal cement project

OCL India is set to spend €75.33mn (INR 6.15bn) in its cement project in the Indian state of West Bengal. The Bengal Cement Works in Paschim Medinipur district

will have a capacity of 2 million tonnes. According to a statement, work on the construction of the project began in 2012. The statement further added OCL, the affiliate of Dalmia Cement Bharat, has already spent €61.14 million (INR 5bn) on the project, while the rest will come by

Hope Construction Materials, Britain’s leading independent supplier of construction materials, is bolstering its 300-strong concrete mixer fleet with 36 new Mercedes-Benz trucks.

Said to be industry leading in every respect - from safety and operational performance, to technical specification and sustainability – Hope say the trucks surpass any other ready-mixed vehicles on the road. They are Euro 6 compliant, built to the latest diesel engine emission legislation from the European Commission.

The st

FLSmidth, the Danish cement machinery and mining equipment producer, has been awarded a €40.43 million order by Petrovietnam for a Vietnamese coal plant. The order is to provide coal-handling equipment, including cranes, trolleys and conveyors. The order will enhance FLSmidth's turnover until 2016.

New Holland Construction has launched its new FleetForce app for iPad, which enables fleet managers to run their fleet efficiently when they are in the field and away from their office.

The app delivers in-depth performance, productivity data to their iPad, and with the FleetForce app, fleet managers can monitor the location and usage of each machine to optimise deployment and productivity; reduce maintenance costs by monitoring the fleet’s health through reports of key parameters set in the app; enhance

MPA The Concrete Centre, part of the Mineral Products Association, has published an update to their Office Cost Study to include a summary of the revised data, comparing the costs of constructing office buildings with different structural solutions.

MPA The Concrete Centre, part of the Mineral Products Association, is the central development organisation for the UK cement and concrete industry.

The commercial buildings cost model study in 2008 compared the costs of constructing three- and six-storey

The combined company will continue to serve the customers with a broad offering within high-strength steels, standard strip and plate products as well as tubular products.

It will be a Nordic and US –based steel company with a global reach and local service. The proposed combination enhances the capacity to invest more in product development, R&D and collaborate closely with the customers.

The construction businesses of both companies (Ruukki Building Products and Ruukki Building Systems as well as S

Europe’s largest aftermarket supplier for crusher, screen and asphalt plant spares and service, CMS Cepcor has made a number of new staff appointments including two senior sales positions.

James Shelley has been appointed sales director and will have overall responsibility for global sales of premium crusher liners, precision machined crusher spare parts and services to mining and aggregate production customers, through direct sales, distributors and traders worldwide.

Previously with FLSmidth, (a lea

Kleemann’s new impact crushers, Mobirex EVO 2 (MR 110 Z and MR 130 Z), developed for crushing recycling material and natural stone, have received the coveted iF Product Design Award 2014 for excellent product design.

The award is a globally recognised trademark for first-class design, and in 2014 from a total of 3,249 submissions for the 2014 competition, the high-ranking international jury praised the highlights. The new Mobirex EVO 2 plants from Kleemann are also among the prize-winners in the category

Indonesia’s cement sales rose by 3.9% in the first half of 2014, down on the 7.5% rise over the same six months of 2013, according to the Chairman of the Indonesia Cement Association, Widodo Santoso. The association had forecast sales growth to be around 5-6% during H1 2014. Sale growth in the second half of 2014 is projected at up to 6-8%. The low demand from outside Java as well as the increase in the electricity rate have been cited as the reasons for the lower than expected sales during the first six mo