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After a difficult 2012, UK aggregates markets are now recovering strongly. Production of sand and gravel fell by 12% last year, while crushed rock demand also fell, by 7%.

In its latest report, BDS Marketing Research expects aggregates markets to increase by 4% during 2013.

The annual BDS report entitled Estimated outputs of pits, quarries and marine wharves in Great Britain is forecasting continued growth in subsequent years. The consultancy expects demand to increase by around 5% in each of the next

Britain’s newest motorway service station, opening in June 2014 between junctions 11a and 12 on the M5 in County Gloucestershire, has been built with 5,000m3 of concrete supplied by construction materials company, Hope Construction Materials.

Hope’s quality ready-mixed concrete, combined with an easy-access, local plant network has helped the company win the contract to supply the construction of the Gloucester Gateway Services.

The company has been working in partnership with Buckingham Group Cont

US federal officials have used a Powerscreen impact crusher to pulverise 5.4 tonnes of illegal elephant ivory to discourage poachers and wildlife traffickers.

The disposal at the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Wildlife Property Repository at Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge near Denver, Colorado, was attended by representatives of African nations and other countries; dozens of leading conservationists and international media representatives. This was the latest in a series of act

W.S. Tyler, a screening equipment and solutions provider, has appointed Karen Thompson as its new president. She replaces Florian Festge, who has assumed the position of managing director of the Machinery Division of W.S. Tyler’s parent company, Haver & Tyler.

Thompson has spent the past 16 years working in various roles within W.S. Tyler and brings a deep understanding of the screening industry to her new role. She intends to continue the long-standing W.S. Tyler tradition of building valuable customer

The organisers of the 16th International Show of Public Works, Construction and Mining Machinery (SMOPYC) are planning the 16th show from 1-5 April 2014 at the Zaragoza Exhibition Centre in Spain.

José Antonio Vicente, director of Zaragoza Exhibition Centre, is an authority in trade show circles as well as chairing the Spanish trade show association (AFE) and he also has expertise in public works machinery.

Andre Tissen, 43, has been named manager of the cement business unit at BEUMER Group in Beckum, Germany, the international manufacturer in intralogistics in the fields of conveying, loading, palletising, packaging, sortation and distribution technology.

BEUMER says Tissene controls and coordinates the global competence centre for this industry, and is also responsible for the marketing of the product portfolio; the strategic development and strengthening of the international sales team; the optimisation

Estonian Tallinn city municipal utilities department has applied for €900,000 from the city budget 2014 to build test concrete surfaces on three bus stops and one intersection and 500m of connecting roads in Tallinn, the capital.

The Swiss subsidiary of French construction materials group Vicat, Creabeton, is currently testing a new vegetation wall baptised Skyflor, in partnership with the Geneva-based landscaping, engineering and architectural school Hepia. The high-performance fibre-reinforced concrete acts as a natural support for vegetation due to a porous ceramic surface, allowing roots to pass through.

Skyflor is set to be commercialised by Creabeton.

Italian insulating solutions specialist Laterlite has presented two new products from the Latermix Concrete range at the Batimat trade show: the Latermix Béton 1400 and Latermix Béton 1600, which are premixed with expanded clay aggregate, cement and inert materials of natural origin.

The products are said to be 4.5 times more insulating than conventional concrete and up to 40% lighter, and are designed for the same usages as conventional concrete.

Laterlite also unveiled its Più hydrophobe expanded cl

The Spanish cement company Cementum Veritas is to build a new clinker mill at the town of Abanilla (Murcia), in which it should invest some €10.40million.

The unit should report an annual production capacity of 95,760tonnes of cement, butthe company is still awaiting the necessary licences and planning permit as part of the land where the plant should be built requires a licence for industrial use.

Some €5.74 million will be allocated for the production and installation of three silos with capacity fo

For 2013, Kingspan's projected earnings is expected to be higher than previously projected at €118 million to €119 million against €117.8 million.

The Irish building materials company expects a rise of around 10% in trading profit for the year. For the nine months ended September 2013, Kingspan registered a yearly growth of 13% in sales to €1.32 bllion. Despite a 3% drop in sales for insulation boards, there was an approximate 33% sales growth for insulation panels.

Correct Beton of Slovakia has received an EIA approval for its mobile concrete plant project, which is to be built in Bratislava's borough of Devinska Nova Ves.

The project has evoked protests from local residents and activists, as the plant is to be built only around 250m from residential buildings.

In order to eliminate negative effects on the quality of life of local residents, the EIA has recommended to limit the annual concrete production to 71,460tonnes and to build a noise barrier or a wall of

ZBI-1 group intends to commission Stage 2 of the reinforced concrete plant in Pskov (North-West) in December 2013.

Stage 2's floor area is 9,000m2, and it is expected to boost the plant's capacity 2.5 times. Investment in the project stood at
RUB 1 billion (€22.64 million). EnergoProgectStalKonstruktsiya ran the project.

The Spanish construction companies FCC and Sando have managed to obtain certification from the Spanish agencies Entidad Nacional de Acreditación (ENAC) and Agencia de Certificación en Innovación Española (ACIE), who tested a new type of high resistance concrete deployed on the construcyion of tunnels.

The certification confirms its technological innovations. Given the current projects of these companies, notably the construction of a new railway tunnel in Andaluzia (Sorbas-Barranco de los Gafarillos), w

Holcim Romania, the local division of the Swiss group Holcim, plans to return to profit in 2013. The company recorded a loss of around €8.50 million in 2012 due to a rise in costs, compared to a profit of around €18 million in 2011.

Italian building materials producer Buzzi Unicem has posted a 62.1% year-on-year decrease in its net profit to €21.8 million for the first nine months of 2013, while its net revenues fell 3.2% to approximately €2.08 billion.

Its net debt fell to slightly over €1.107 billion from €1.125 billion, and the company registered a 1.2% drop in sales of clinker and cement to 20.6 million tonnes, registering the more dramatic sales decrease in Ukraine, Mexico and Czech Republic.

Sales of pre-packaged concrete a

In the first nine months of 2013, Titan Cement of Greece posted a loss of €15 million in comparison with €2 million profits in the corresponding period last year.

Meanwhile, its revenues reached €883 million from €847million with its revenues up by 6% to €316 million in the July-September 2013 period.

Abdelhakim Berrah, the president of Algerian stock market watchdog (Cosob)p, , has explained that the Tebessa, Chlef and Ain Kebira (Sétif) cement plants were chosen to be floated on the stock exchange due to their strong performance.

The Oued Sly (Chlef) plant has the largest production capacity of all plants in the country. In addition to this, all the plants are all entirely state-owned.

Between 2005 and 2008, the state opted to open up the capital of certain public cement plants to foreign investo

Marmomacc and the City, the initiative organised by Marmomacc in collaboration with the Order of Architects and Verona City Council in Italy has been hailed a huge success.

Running from 25 September until a few days ago it turned the city centre into an open air art site.

Twelve installations, twice as many as last year, were set up around the city centre to enliven squares and courtyards and at the same time to capture the attention of local people and tourists who were able to admire the beauty and

Lafarge Tarmac has agreed a deal to acquire Tarmac Building Products (TBP) from Anglo American, and the terms of the transaction, which will now be subject to regulatory approvals, are confidential.

Cyrille Ragoucy, CEO of Lafarge Tarmac said: “TBP offers a close fit with our existing business, which will add value for us and our customers, while also securing TBP’s long term future. The deal will also open up new opportunities for Lafarge Tarmac particularly in the house-building sector.”

Lafarge Ta