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Finnish Ruskon Betoni that makes ready-mixed concrete products is building a concrete plant in Lappeenranta with the aim of making 25,000m³ of concrete a year. Ruskon Betoni operates in 21 locations around Finland.

Holcim has seen its 2012 sales of cement and clinker fall by 3.6% on year in Romania. The company’s cement and clinker sales declined by 21.7% on year in Bulgaria.

Despite the fall in income in 2012, Vicat will pay a dividend worth €1.50 per share, unchanged. The French building materials group posted consolidated net income down 23.4% to €148 million in 2012, the result of weak activity affecting its cement business as well as its concrete and aggregates arms both in France and in Egypt.

Massucco T is adding to its fleet of new, used and rental equipment by becoming the official McCloskey International dealer for north-west Italy. With offices in Canada and Ireland, McCloskey International is rapidly expanding its global dealer network across all geographies. “The reputation of this equipment is very good,” says Riccardo Messi of Massucco T, which is based in Cuneo.

IronPlanet broke its record for the largest single unit ever sold. A buyer from North Carolina won a Marion 7820 Walking Dragline in IronPlanet’s Daily Marketplace, for the highest bid of US$3 million (€2.3 million) from a seller in Pennsylvania. “This successful sale between two of the largest aggregate producers in the United States is a prime example of how our global marketplace connects buyers and sellers quickly and effectively,” said Greg Owens, CEO of IronPlanet. “Our Daily Marketplace is a compleme

In Ghana, HeidelbergCement is constructing a new cement mill with an annual capacity of 0.8 million tonnes at its grinding plant in the port city of Takoradi. The investment of US$30 million (€24 million) also includes the construction of a new clinker and a new cement silo as well as the installation of new cement bag packing and dispatch facilities. In November 2012, HeidelbergCement inaugurated a new 1 million tonnes cement mill at its grinding plant in Tema some 25km east of the capital city of Accra. “

Italian building materials group Italcementi has posted a loss of €362.4 million for 2012, down from a profit of €91.2 million in 2011. This is entirely the result of €475 million in write-downs and is the highest net loss in the company's history. The company’s EBITDA fell by 9.8% to €632 million, while its turnover dropped 3.8% to €4.48 billion. Falls were recorded in Belgium, France, Spain, Morocco and Bulgaria, while the group's results improved in India, Thailand and North America. The group's investme

Danielle McSorley thought she recognised a niche in the market to connect end-users with suppliers in the construction, agricultural, shipping and transport sectors. So she decided to develop a website which provides a one-stop-shop to link the end-user with the “cheapest and best quality machine, part or shipping price.” The result is machinery-user.com, the new website created by McSorley, grand-daughter of the late entrepreneur business man John Finlay, remembered for his innovations in the concrete, mob

Four early Neolithic houses have been unearthed by archaeologists at Cemex’s Kingsmead Quarry in County Berkshire, south-east England, a discovery that is said to be unprecedented on a single site in England and to challenge current understanding of how people lived more than 5,700 years ago. The rare find offers an opportunity to learn more about the earliest permanent settlements in prehistoric Britain and how such sites developed. At this time new practices were being adopted with people switching lifest

Powerscreen has presented awards to three distributors following the use if its dynamic balanced scorecard approach to monitoring dealer performance regularly throughout the year. The scorecard rewards distributors for superior achievement across a range of business disciplines including providing excellent customer support, achieving machine and parts sales targets, financial management and commitment to the Powerscreen brand. Gold status is awarded to all top-tier distributors, but each year the company r

In Burkina Faso, HeidelbergCement and local partners are constructing a new US$ 50 million cement grinding plant with an annual capacity of 650,000 tonnes near the capital city of Ouagadougou. “The construction of the new cement grinding plant is part of our strategy of expanding our clinker and cement capacities in growth markets. These include, in particular, the countries of sub-Saharan Africa”, said Dr. Bernd Scheifele, chairman of the managing board of HeidelbergCement. “For many years, we have exporte

For 2012, Ciments Français anticipates EBITDA in line with that of 2012, with the negative volume effect on EBITDA, especially in the first half of the year, partly offset by the positive trend in sales prices. The Italcementi Group subsidiary posted recurring EBITDA down from €706.20 million in 2011 to €653.20 million in 2012. After €270.90 million in impairment losses, the net consolidated profit was a negative €85.10 million. As a result, the net profit attributable to owners of the parent was a negative

In expanding exports of eco-friendly cement to northern Europe, Ecocem Ireland has come out with a three-year investment programme worth €19 million. The investment will help to expand the building material company's exports market development in the UK, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Scandinavia and Germany and will create 61 jobs. The company unveiled the plans during the opening of its new plant at Dublin Port. The facility will bag the company’s eco-friendly cement, which is deemed to have 50% lower

According to the consulting company AMIKO, production of construction aggregates in Russia increased by 7.48% to about 404 million m³ by volume in 2012, compared with 2011. Broken stone, gravel and pebble accounted for 54% of the total output while sand and other types of aggregates captured 38% and 8%, respectively. Of the total about 20% of construction aggregates were manufactured in the Central Federal District, while 18%, 16%, and 15% of the materials were produced in Siberia, North-West, and Volga dis

Despite the freezing temperatures, 15 colleagues from Cemex UK helped to plant over 2,000 trees in Rugby’s Jubilee Wood, central England, as part of the company’s Lendahand Scheme. The trees, all native species to Britain, will enhance the biodiversity of the area and will act as an extension to the adjacent nature reserve providing additional shelter and food for wildlife. Rugby Borough Council has been working with the Woodland Trust to develop a permanent legacy to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. It

Eternit, a manufacturer of fibre-cement construction materials, is hoping to strengthen its brand image in France. The group, which employs 480 people and has a turnover of €138 million in France, is focusing on enlarging its range of façade solutions while providing technical added-value. By 2015, Eternit hopes to lead the market for cladding panels for ventilated façades. As of 1 January 2013 it rebranded its offer under Equitone, which already represents 15% of the market. In a bid to make its solutions

In Lithuania, the construction price index rose by 4.9% in January 2013 from January 2012 and by 0.1% from December 2012. The biggest increase was in the price of concrete and concrete mixes (+0.9%) and wood products (+0.7%) in January. The cost of roadbuilding rose by 0.4% y/y. The 10.9% y/y hike in payroll costs and the 3.4% hike in building materials prices had the biggest impact on construction price index growth in January.

Cellbat is expected to start its activity in summer 2013, with the aim of some ten staff within three years against two at its inception. The company founded by Laurent Rousseville, manufactures expanded concrete under the Béton Système brand, and the product is said to offer insulation features and higher energy performance at the same price as cellular concrete. Cellbat is currently renovating a 500m² building in Saint Jean du Bois, in the Sarthe département (western France).

Jose Luis Saenz de Miera has been appointed president and CEO of the Spanish cement company Cementos Portland Valderrivas, replacing Juan Bejar. The company has also appointed EAC Inversiones Corporativa, managed by Alicia Alcocer Koplowitz, as new vice president to the board.

Continuing its targeted acquisitions policy, road construction specialist Colas (Bouygues) has acquired fellow French company Carrières Rambaud. Carrières Rambaud has 170 staff and owns six mining sites (in Deux-Sèvres, Haute-Vienne and Indre) that together produce close to 2.5 million tonnes of aggregate/year. It also produces asphalt and ballast. Colas' CEO Hervé Le Bouc said new acquisitions are always in the pipeline, but there is nothing concrete for the coming months. Colas has over 500 mining sites.