Search

Holcim has reduced its shareholding in leading construction materials group Siam City Cement Company (SCCC), Thailand, from 36.8% to 27.5%. The shares have been bought by Bangkok Broadcasting and Television, a company of the Ratanarak Group, which will increase its shareholding in SCCC to 47%.

Lafarge Surma Cement has signed an agreement with Madina Cement Industries and under the terms of the deal, Lafarge Surma will supply its high quality clinker to Madina Cement from its integrated plant at Chhatak, Bangladesh, to produce Powercrete. This will be subject to strict quality controls by employees of Lafarge Surma to ensure world-class quality that Lafarge Surma promises to deliver to its customers. The production process will follow the highest safety standards.

Philippe Richart, who was responsible for the readymix concrete business in Holcim Vietnam, has been appointed CEO of Holcim Lanka, Sri Lanka, as “part of a generational change in the company’s leadership.” He joined Holcim Group Support in 2004 as a commercial project manager for the Aggregates and Constructions Materials function, working on aggregates market development and performance improvement in various regions of the Group. In 2007, he was appointed readymix director for Holcim Vietnam and successf

Demand for space at the inaugural bauma Africa equipment exhibition has forced the organisers to increase the show space on offer. Initially organisers Messe München International had planned to have 200 exhibitors at the show, which runs from 18-21September. However demand for the Johannesburg event has led to up to 400 exhibitors being registered. To meet this requirement the organisers have added 15,000m2 of exhibition space, bringing the total to 50,000m2. Manufacturers that have already signed up to th

The capital goods trade fair Future Mongolia will again be held in the Mongolian capital Ulan Bator from 19-22 June. Organisers are expecting around 120 exhibitors, with last year’s event including stands from Caterpillar, Hyundai, Liebherr and Wirtgen. Mongolia is one of the fastest growing economies in the world with double-digit annual growth rates for GDP, thanks to a wealth of natural resources including coal, copper, gold and rare earths. Leading economic research institutes are forecasting an increas

What is said to be the world’s largest cement grinding system has started operation in Artux in the Xinjiang autonomous region of China. The 6,000tonnes/day cement clinker production line was jointly developed by Hefei Cement Research & Design Institute and Sinoma PowerTechnical Equipment Company.

Lafarge India’s Learning & Development has won the prestigious Annual CLO (Chief Learning Officers) Award, receiving the silver trophy in the Best Risk, Safety and Policy Compliance Training Programme category for initiatives taken to ensure increased safety compliance.

China Resources Cement’s (CRCement) vice-chairman, YuZhongliang, projected that cement demand would increaseby between 8% and 10% in 2013, while output would grow up to 8%. Obsolete capacity totalling 100 million tonnes would be phased out, and at the same time new cement output capacity totalling an estimated of 150 million tonnes would be added.

Nikolai Skripal and his wife, Svetlana, owners of Gazprom dorstroy Construction Company in Orenburg, Russia, visited the Kolberg-Pioneer,(KPI-JCI) factory in Yankton,South Dakota, USA, to approvethe shipment of its new KPIJCI52S Pugmill system andconveyor, the first of its kind shipped from KPI to Russia. The system will be used to build farm-to-market roads in the interior of Russia.

British Precast, the trade body for the UK concrete products industry, has welcomed a decision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Lausanne, Switzerland, to allow precast suppliers to the London 2012 Games to promote their involvement under the Supplier Recognition Scheme SRS). Until the decision the involvement of Dow as a major Games sponsor had precluded concrete and its constituent materials from receiving licences under the scheme. “I am very grateful to the staff of the British Olympic As

A three-day hearing at the UK Court of Appeal in October has been granted to The British Aggregates Association (BAA), which is trying to overturn a 2002 Justice Moses judgment in its battle against the Aggregates Levy. The levy became effective in April 2002 with the aim to incorporate the environmental cost of aggregates into the market price and promote recycling. The levy is presently £2 (€2.37)/tonne. The appellants are the BAA, representing the interests of independent quarry companies, along with two

Ciments Français' revenue fell by 7.3% year-on-year to €819 million in the first quarter of 2013 from €884 million in the same quarter in 2012. The Italcementi subsidiary commented that the first quarter of 2012 had suffered due to bad weather. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 14.9% to €112 million in the first quarter of 2013 from €132 million in the first quarter of 2012. By business segment, revenues for cement and clinker fell by 8% to €556 million from €60

Italcementi’s first quarter 2013report shows similar challenges to the other European majors in terms of poor weather and sluggish demand in Europe and the Mediterranean. In Italy, especially, cement consumption continues to fall, prompting a reorganisation of the group’s production system. The ‘Project 2015’ programme will see a number of continuous cycle plants switch to grinding only, and Italcementi says it will still be able to meet cement demand in Italy, but in a manner that permits closer control of

CRH looks to be heading for €500 million in acquisition spending in the year to date, and the group said yesterday that it is targeting Russia and south-east Asia for further expansion. CRH said that it has spent approximately €385 million on 15 acquisitions and investments in a statement published at its annual meeting in Dublin, having recently agreeing to buy Mykolaiv Cement in Ukraine for €96 million. This makes CRH the biggest player in the industry in the eastern European country. Chief executive Myle

Wincanton has obtained a three-year distribution contract from Cemex. The logistics group will oversee the planning and transport to construction sites, retailers and wholesalers throughout the UK of bagged cement. The contract will see 15,000 loads per year ultimately distributed. The contract's value was not divulged.

Swedish construction firm NCC reduced its CO2 emissions in the Nordic region by 12,000 tonnes in 2012 by reusing old asphalt. NCC Roads has used 864,000 tonnes of asphalt granules made from old asphalt in 2012. The use of asphalt granules means NCC can reduce its use of bitumen, rock materials, and transports, and 15% of asphalt manufactured in 2012 was from asphalt granules. NCC is also increasing recycling capacity at its facilities in the region and 80% of its asphalt plants are now adapted for asphalt r

Finnish construction and infrastructure company Lemminkäinen's net sales fell to €306.4 million the first quarter of 2013 from 315.4 million in the first quarter of 2012. Operating loss totalled €38.2 million compared to a loss of €21.6 million in the corresponding period in 2012. Operating margin was a negative 12.5%, compared to a negative 6.9%. The order book at the end of March 2013 stood at the same level as in the previous year, at €1.626.2 billion. According to CEO Timo Kohtamäki, the first quarter w

Representatives of the Italian stone sector have signed a renewal of the national collective labour agreement with trade unions Confindustria Marmomacchine, Fillea Cgil, Filca Cisl and Feneal Uil. The contract covers some 30,000 workers and guarantees an average salary increase of €130 in 2013-2016.

Turkish natural stone producer Ionic Stone is looking to invest TRY 2 million (€851,000) in two new mines in 2013. With the new investment, the company aims to increase its domestic sales ratio to 70% and focus on exports after 2013.

Approaching 400 lots of construction machinery and industrial equipment are already scheduled to go under the hammer on 26 June 26th, including consignments from some of the largest rental companies in the US and other regional dealers and rental companies, at the first US auction for Euro Auctions. The auction is to be held at its recently acquired site that runs parallel to Interstate 85, in Newnan (Exit 51) near Atlanta, Georgia. “We have long aspired to enter the US market, so in acquiring this site in