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LiuGong Machinery Corporation has officially opened its European headquarters at Almere, 35km from the Dutch capital, Amsterdam. The near-4,000m² site has convenient access to European cities via air, sea and highway, and it will serve as the Chinese company’s sales hub, technical support base and spare parts distribution centre for existing and potential customers.

New research from Capital Economics is said to reveal startling statistics highlighting the criticality of the mineral products sector to the UK economy. The Mineral Products Association (MPA) recently launched the Make the Link campaign, which uses some of the research information, and it points out that the mineral products industry supplies over 1 million tonnes of material in a typical day; annual production is 250 million tonnes worth £9 billion (€11.4 billion) a year and it provides jobs for 70,000 pe

Hanson UK has invested £750,000 (€950,000) in two concrete production facilities in city of Glasgow, Scotland, to take advantage of increasing demand in the run up to the 2014 Commonwealth Games, which is being held in the city. The new Glasgow central plant in Polmadie replaces the company’s Shawfield facility at Rutherglen which closed in 2011 when the land was compulsorily purchased as part of the Clyde Gateway redevelopment project. The relatively new Shawfield batching equipment, which supplied special

Tarmac is helping customers order and pick up asphalt direct from the plant, with the with the launch of a new collection service. Tarmac2Go offers a range of asphalt products, including hot rolled asphalt, stone mastic asphalt and red asphalt at 25 plants across the UK.

Pre-stressed concrete specialist Eastern Pretech is using newly-installed vibratory pokers to manufacture concrete railway sleepers for Malaysia’s West Coast line. Upgrading of the line that runs through the Malaysian peninsula is being undertaken with the help of the Atlas Copco electric and pneumatic vibratory pokers in the plant operated by pre-stressed concrete specialist NSL Eastern Pretech (Malaysia), which has the contract to supply the concrete rail sleepers for 200km of the project.

FLSmidth has signed an agreement to acquire the two Australian service companies MIE Enterprises and Mayer Bulk. The parties have agreed not to disclose the value of the transactions. The two acquisitions will complement FLSmidth's regional customer services set-up with a highly-skilled workforce and full-service capabilities.

Cemex has reaffirmed its continued commitment to its subsidiary Neoris, a global business and IT consulting company. Neoris grew out of the solutions it created for Cemex, and is said to be one of the few cases where a company, derived from the spin-off of the IT department of a large industrial organisation, has become successful as an independent player in the market, creating long-term value for its stakeholders.

According to its consolidated data, Croatia's construction materials company Nexe Group posted a total income of HRK 500 million (€66.93 million) in the first half of 2012, down by 26.7% compared to H1 of 2011. Its total business income dropped by 23.4% to HRK 477 million (€63.8 million), mainly due to lower business activities registered during the economic crisis.

Celitement, a company founded by scientists, Karlsruhe Institut für Technologie (KIT) and Schwenk Zement in 2009, hopes to be able to launch the homonymous new material in 2015. The production of Celitement requires 50% of the energy needed for the production of conventional cement, and CO2 emissions are said to be lower, as the production takes place in lower temperatures.

Danish group FLSmidth (FLS) has acquired German company Teutrine, which specialises in mobile solutions for reparations and installations. The company has 45 employees. The aim is to strengthen FLS in the field of services to and upgrading of cement factories.

Oxford, UK-based Sheehan Haulage & Plant Hire, in conjunction with CDE Global, is holding a series of open days to showcase its newly-commissioned construction and demolition(C&D) waste recycling plant. With sustainability and recycling high on the agenda of government and local authorities across the UK, public works and civil engineering contractors Sheehan Haulage & Plant Hire, recently installed the new plant, which will be on show from 11-14 September, 2012 (9.30am-4pm). Visitors are asked to take the

Doosan Infracore Construction Equipment is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the permanent six-wheel drive system on its articulated dump truck (ADT) range. To mark the event, the company held a 40th birthday celebration at the Doosan ADT plant at Elnesvagen, Norway, attended by over 50 dealers and customers from Germany, Italy, USA, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Norway and Russia.

First Quantum Minerals is investing in a new trolley assist system for Hitachi dump trucks at the Kansanshi copper and gold mine, near Solwezi in Zambia. The massive project includes the installation of a new fleet of 23 electric EH3500ACII models as part of a four-year US$370million (€295 million) expansion programme. Three different project phases are planned to increase annual copper production capacity from the 230,000tonnes achieved in 2011 to 400,000tonnes by 2015.

CRH subsidiary Irish Cement is to cut two-thirds of the 75 jobs at its facility in Castlemungret, County Limerick, as part of a restructuring measure. Employees have been notified that the company would be seeking up to 55 redundancies, but that the plant will not be closed, and it is understood that the restructuring plan will be negotiated at talks with workers and unions to take place over the coming days. CRH said that the restructuring follows five years of massive downslide in the Irish construction

French company Saint-Gobain will build a gypsum board plant in the Karmaskalinsky district of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Volga, Russia. Previously, the company was offered plots in the Ufimsky and Iglinsky districts.
The project includes construction of a plant to produce 30-45 million m² of gypsum board per year and the Antonovsky Quarry development (350,000-450,000tonnes of gypsum raw materials each year).

Terex Washing Systems (TWS) has announced six new additions to its team as it expands. They include two design engineers, a marketing manager, technical sales executive, technical support and after sales service engineer and an applications and sales support engineer. “To enhance customer support in our growing markets, TWS has expanded its team with several talented individuals. The experience they bring will further strengthen our ability to provide first-class service, expertise and knowledge in the fie

According to the latest report by Anefhop in Spain, the industry association for prepared concrete, the first quarter of 2012 ended with production of less than 6 million m³ in the country. The 5.961 million m³ produced was a 29.1% drop from the same period a year earlier. The effects of the economic crisis are being blamed for the fall, as it has impacted the level of public infrastructure works as well as building for the residential and non-residential sectors.

During the first half of 2012, the Portuguese cement company Cimpor registered losses of €204.80 million compared to profits of €132 million during the same period the previous year. According to the company this is directly linked to the economic crisis in Spain and Portugal, which had an effect on its accounts of €290 million. Without those adjustments, Cimpor would have registered a €85 million profit. Additionally, half-year revenues decreased by 5.5% to €1.086 billion

The UK HTMA (Highways Term Maintenance Association) has appointed a new executive director to orchestrate its “growing influence and rising position” within the industry. Geoff Allister, currently chief executive of Northern Ireland’s road Service, will take over from David Hutchinson at the beginning of November.

Terex Washing Systems (TWS) has released its new Plant Automation & Controls Service (PACS), which it says will allow customers to improve plant efficiency by utilising state-of-the-art, fully integrated control systems for the full range of Terex washing and water management equipment.