Search

According to Portugal's National Statistics Institute (INE), in 2012 the ornamental stones sector generated €324 million in exports, increasing 5% year-on-year. The president of Assimagra (the Portuguese Association of Marble, Granite and Similar Branches) stated that the current crisis drove many companies to dismiss workers. Other problems are beyond the sector's direct control, and among them is the delay in the approval by state organisations of the unification of closed quarries and of the use of indus

Lafarge has launched a railway terminal in Comrat city in the Republic of Moldova. The new terminal will improve distribution services of cement to end consumers in the south. Lafarge entered the Moldovan market in 1999 via the acquisition of the Rezina cement factory, and to date the company has invested almost €50 million in the modernisation of the cement factory.

According to the Association of Aggregates Producers from the Spanish Galicia region, AGA, the local industry, which includes 50 companies, was forced to cut 1,400 jobs as a result of the crisis in the construction sector. Demand of aggregates has decreased by 66% between 2006-2012. In December 2012, the total workforce of the local aggregates industry was made up of 800 direct jobs and 1,600 indirect positions.

The Association of Construction Equipment and Building Material Machinery, which is part of the German VDMA, will for the first time hold its roadshow, Cement + Minerals, from 2-10 May, 2013, stopping at Peru, Chile and Brazil. Seven companies working in the field of cement engineering and mineral processing are joining forces and will invite South American cement manufacturers and mine operators to familiarise themselves with the high-tech solutions on secondary breaking, thermal treatment, feeding and sc

Seven companies from the marble industry in Portugal have formed a group, the Rose Project, to rationalise costs and strengthen their offer capacity in foreign markets. The companies took this measure given the economic crisis and the market changes. The project received a €50,000 fund through a support programme developed by Vila Vicosa's municipality, Alentejo's development agency and Direccao-Geral de Energia e Geologia. A commercial agent will study the possibilities in the markets targeted by the group

In what is said to be one of 2013’s biggest articulated truck deals in the UK, L-Lynch Plant Hire has purchased 12 Terex TA300s as part of the company’s £12 million (€14 million) investment in new equipment. The trucks were sold by Terex UK distributor, TDL Equipment, and will be used by Lynch’s customers on mainly civil and tunnelling projects. Having previously purchased six Generation 9 Terex trucks in 2011 and several Generation 7 in 2007, 2008, and 2009, Merrill Lynch, Lynch’s operations director, say

Good housekeeping at a quarry site will greatly reduce the risk of accidents. Maintaining a tidy working environment is a major step towards reducing or eliminating accidents in the workplace. Incidents such as slips, trips and falls can be eliminated with a good housekeeping procedure. This will include identifying and then tackling the relevant issues to prevent such incidents. Many quarry companies already do this as a matter of course, drawing up a housekeeping checklist following a risk assessment. Suc

For the third year in a row the Seepsula rock factory has won a major safety competition. The Finnish company, which has its headquarters in Tuusula just north of the capital Helsinki, picked up the award in the Infra-organised safety competition. The business, which supplies rock products over a wide area, is also eager to safeguard the environment and in 2012 in published its sustainability report. Seepsula’s state-of-the-art crushing plant is in Senkkeri near the Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, and is designed

Breedon Aggregates, the largest independent aggregates business in the UK, employing around 800 people in England and Scotland, has acquired Scottish assets from Aggregate Industries for £34 million (€39.8 million) and is in advanced stages of a possible acquisition for up to £19 million (€22.3 million). The Scottish acquisition will add six active quarries, four asphalt plants, seven ready-mixed concrete plants and two concrete block plants in Grampian, Tayside, Highlands and Hebrides while group mineral r

The EU Water Framework Directive’s ambitious targets for 2015 are approaching. What are the likely impacts on aggregates businesses? Simon Trahair-Davies of Stephens Scown LLP reviews the legislation and concerns over its impact on the aggregates industry. An important area of legislation for aggregates and minerals businesses across Europe is the EU Water Framework Directive and the domestic legislation that is implementing it in member states. While there is a lot of good practice in the industry and supp

In 2012, Caterpillar announced the availability of its initial phases of machine engine rebuild kits for certain machine models powered by 3406, 3306 and 3176 engines. The company’s Precious Metals’ Bronze kits provide the basic components (gaskets, seals, oil and fuel filter, camshaft bearings, exhaust manifold sleeves, etc.) and have no core charge; Silver kits include the Bronze kit plus new, unassembled pistons, piston rings, retainers and cylinder liners and have no core charge; Gold kits include the B

Weir Minerals has launched its first service centre in Poland to deliver increased support to its growing customer base in the country. The company says the centre is strategically located in Leszno in the west of the Poland, which is well placed for road-transport infrastructure and allows fast access to customer locations across the country. As well as providing a location for off-site repair and maintenance works by a team of engineers permanently based at the centre, the site will also hold strategic st

The Federal Court of Justice in Germany confirmed the fine imposed on HeidelbergCement in 2009 by the Higher Court of Düsseldorf at a reduced level of €161.4 million. After release of the respective provision, a P&L effective charge of €30 million remains in the second quarter 2013. The cash outflow of €161.4 million will probably occur within the next 12 to 18 months. Result outlook and financial planning remain unchanged. "We have to accept the verdict of the Federal Court of Justice, and we state that th

The research and development division of French construction materials group Lafarge is seeking a project manager to highlight its recycled concrete programme and prove its feasibility. Recybéton is supporting the efforts in Greater Lyon. All concrete use ideas are welcome, but there is a preference for structural uses.

Mexican construction materials company Cemex will provide around 120,000m3 of pre-mixed concrete for a hydroelectric plant project in Austria. The concrete has been developed with new technology to meet the challenges of this project. It has to be able to withstand temperatures of -20ºC during the winter period.

French group Rup is to triple its alluvial aggregate production at its Castelsarrasin site, which currently stands at 100tonnes/hour. The group, which has just acquired authorisation to operate a site in Escatalens, has acquired a sludge trap to clean the aggregates of clay. The aggregates are then transported by conveyor belt to be processed. The new equipment is thought to have cost around €2 million.

Cement group Cemex has received ISO 14001 environmental certification for its quarry in Montrevel-en-Bresse. The site has a production capacity of 400,000tonnes/year.

Metso is supplying a primary crusher and grinding equipment to B2Gold Namibia for its Greenfield Otjikoto gold mine project in Namibia. After completion by the end of 2014, the new mine will produce 4,385kg of gold annually in the first five years of full operation. The complete value of the order exceeds €8 million. Metso's delivery consists of a primary gyratory crusher for processing of run-of-mine gold ore, and a semi-autogenous grinding mill and a ball mill for secondary grinding. The crusher will be d

Aggregate Processing Solutions (APS) has secured a contract with Smiths & Sons (Bletchington) to deliver a high technology, recycled aggregate washing system. APS, the specialist washing arm of the Finlay Group, is providing a complete system to the long-established County Oxfordshire, England-based company, which based at Enslow near Bletchington,. CDE washing equipment comprising of an M2500 mobile washing plant, AggMax 83 portable logwasher assembly, A400 Aquacycle and an Aquastore 55 complete with a ce

Kolberg-Pioneer (KPI-JCI) has been recognised for its commendable efforts in safety by parent corporation Astec Industries. Kolberg-Pioneer, Inc. (KPI-JCI) is the recipient of the Most Improved Safety Award for its 2012 safety record. The company decreased its recordable incidents by 56% over a 12-month period, according to safety manager Neil Pedersen. The reduction in incidents is significant for the company, which places a heavy emphasis on safety in the workplace. “Safety is an integral part of our day-