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Medef, the French employers' organisation, has appointed Bruno Lafont as president of its sustainable development division.

Lafont, CEO of Lafarge, replaces Jean-Pierre Clamadieu, chairman of Solvay's executive committee.

Lafont has chaired Medef's sustainable development commission since the end of 2013.

Finnish concrete element manufacturer Betoniluoma; insulation company Paroc and PiiMat, a distributor for the manufacturers of coatings and building materials, have developed a facade element made of fibre-reinforced concrete.

Other manufacturers and the Finnish concrete industry have also participated in the development.

The new sandwich element is said to be much lighter than a traditional element as its outer layer has no reinforcements. The product is to be launched in the summer of 2014.

China's cement output in 2013 rose by 9.57% year-on-year to 2.41 billion tonnes, up from 2.18 billion tonnes in 2012.

Only Shanghai, Liaoning and Hebei reported negative growth with Shanghai down by 5.65%.

The cement sector posted a total profit of CNY 76.60 billion (€9.15 billion/US$12.57 billion) in 2013, up 16.4% from CNY 65.7 billion in 2012 but still down from CNY 102 billion in 2011.

In 2014, Rrasnoyarskiy Cement (part of SibCement group) is going to spend RUB 257 million (€5.27 million) on repair of its equipment.

The plant's cement mills will undergo major repair one by one.

When one of the mills is repaired, performance of the others will be boosted so that the plant could retain its usual volume of production. The plant's three rotary kilns will also be repaired.

Cemex will provide concrete that will be used on renovation works at the Parliament building in Budapest.

The company will supply 17,000m³ of a special concrete for these works.

Dust Control Technology of Peoria, Illinois, USA, a leader in open-area dust suppression technology has sponsored a day-long event to benefit the children of Casa Hogar de Cabo San Lucas, an orphanage dedicated to providing active care and personal well-being for boys in need in Baja California Sur.

The 41 young men who currently call the facility home were treated to a full day of food and surfing, hosted on the grounds of the Cabo Surf Hotel, including lessons from professional instructors at the Mike

International construction equipment manufacturer Chicago Pneumatic has appointed Harper Plant as an authorised distributor of its full range of construction and portable energy equipment in south-west England.

The company, which has proven successful in selling Chicago Pneumatic’s pneumatic and hydraulic products, has now extended its offering to include the brand’s diesel-powered portable compressors and generators.

“We are very pleased to become a fully authorised Chicago Pneumatic distributor. Ch

Holcim’s board of directors is proposing to the annual meeting on 29 April, 2014 the election of Wolfgang Reitzle as the new chairman to succeed Rolf Soiron who has been the chairman for the past 11 years and a member of the board of directors for 20 years.

Thanking Rolf Soiron for his many years of service to the group as well as all his efforts, which were instrumental to Holcim's success, the board also thanks Erich Hunziker and Andreas von Planta for their many contributions to the group. They are n

Holcim’s annual results for 2013 show that net income increased sharply by 59% to CHF 1.6 billion (€1.3 billion); operating profit was up by a third to CHF 2.36 billion and while net sales were down 6.8% this represented a slight increase on like-for-like basis.

The net financial debt was down CHF 864 million to CHF 9.46 billion.

In the fourth quarter of 2013 net income amounted to CHF 319 million after a loss of CHF 91 million in the same quarter of the previous year, while operating profit climbed s

UK and Dubai headquartered Meridian Drilling is looking forward to fresh challenges after concluding its four-year involvement with the Allana Potash project in Ethiopia.

The project saw Meridian Drilling complete 25,000m of drilling, operating two Atlas Copco CS14 wireline drilling rigs for 24-hours-a-day in the harsh and remote Danakil Depression.

The contract was initially for just 3,000m of diamond drilling, and Meridian’s managing director Jeremy Moore explained he was initially advised not to ta

Test results released in a white paper by Solidia Technologies are said to show that a new technology that cures concrete using carbon dioxide instead of water reduces the carbon footprint of cement and concrete up to 70% and produces higher-performing concrete products while using the same raw materials and equipment as traditional concretes.

Adaptable to a wide variety of cement and concrete formulations, production methods and product specifications, Solidia Concrete is said to offer ordinary Portland

The PAN Institute of Fundamental Technological Research; NCBJ Institute of Ceramics and Building Materials and the Hydrobudowa-1 company are starting a 3.2 million PLN (€769,000) joint research project to modernise concrete radiation shields.

The project is welcomed by all companies that are likely to participate in development of the first nuclear power plant in Poland.

The objective of the project is to develop a new technology for producing concrete shielding with improved functionality. The techn

Worldwide demand for salt is predicted to rise by 2.7%/year between 2013 and 2018, but Asia, particularly China and India, will continue to drive growth in demand, according to a new report by London-based Roskill.

Asian salt consumption alone is projected to rise by nearly 5%/year to 2018 and by then the region is forecast to account for nearly half of the world salt demand.

Much of the additional demand up to 2018 will originate from the chemicals sector, with growth in world chloralkali production

Leading environmental company, SLR Consulting has appointed David Sandbrook (pictured) to its UK management board as director responsible for the company’s Planning and Estate Management, Highway and Transportation, Archaeology and Cultural Heritage and Acoustics teams.

He joined SLR in 2004, and has over 25 years’ experience and is a Chartered Town Planner; Fellow of the Institute of Quarrying as well as a Chartered Wastes Manager.

Working mostly out of the company’s Nottingham and London offices, E

The Association of British Mining Equipment Companies (ABMEC) will lead a high-profile mission to the 4th Mongolia Mining Exhibition, taking place in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia 10-12 April 2014.

With the GDP of Mongolia varying between 11% and 17% growth in recent years, mining is a key driver, and landmark projects are preparing for production. The country is rich in natural resources and ideally situated just north of resource-hungry China. According to the National Statistical Office (NSO) preliminary esti

The UK’s first Dressta dozer has been deployed to the high profile Chesil Beach flood defence works in Portland, County Dorset, southern England, where it has been working as part of the fleet of machines working for the UK Environment Agency in conjunction with military kit from the Royal Engineers.

This machine was part of a recent large order received by Portsmouth-based Construction Plant & Machinery Sales to supply Chinese machines including 20 LiuGong excavators for J. Ffrench Plant Hire of Iver,

Haver & Boecker says it has made fulfilling South Africa’s customer requirements dependably and rapidly its top priority, and now offers the group’s complete product range.

Working out of Johannesburg, Haver Southern Africa has been active on the African market since 2008 and is always in close proximity to customers. Last year it moved into its new offices in the South African metropolis and now offers a comprehensive stock “that ensures customers get reliable and quick support when it comes to maintena

Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) is celebrating after its ECR88D short swing radius compact excavator received a prestigious accolade for innovative product design, the iF product design award.

The internationally renowned quality label recognises outstanding design achievement, and has been doing so for more than 60 years, and this year 3,249 products were entered from around the world.

The ECR88D, designed for use in confined areas, was awarded the prestigious prize in category 1: transporta

Hexagon, a leading global provider of design, measurement and visualisation solutions, has acquired Aibotix, a manufacturer of intelligent multicopter systems for high efficiency aerial applications.

The acquisition strengthens the Life of Mine solution offered by Leica Geosystems Mining.

Headquartered in Kassel, Germany, Aibotix is the maker of Aibot X6, a new generation of vertical take-off and landing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Intelligent, autonomous and safe, the multi-rotor platform is desig

CRH is sounding an optimistic note as it presents its 2013 results for the year to 31 December.

“The review of our portfolio announced in November 2013 aims to re-set the group for growth. While this has resulted in significant non-cash impairment charges, we believe that dynamic allocation and reallocation of resources to optimise the portfolio, together with our traditional tight cost control and capital discipline and our relentless focus on returns, will be key to driving growth and to rebuilding ret