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Nordkalk has announced that it has appointed Bjarne Mitts as its new chairman of the board to take over from Björn Mattsson who is stepping down to be deputy chairman. Mitts was previously president and CEO of the Rettig Group. Morten Ahlström, Leif Lundkvist, Anders Moliis-Mellberg and Christoffer Taxell remain as members of the board. The company has also announced that it is to become a private company and change its name to the Nordkalk Corporation. Nordkalk became a public operation when it issued a co

Cimpor is expected to raise €58million through the sale of its shareholdings in C+PA and Cementos del Marquesado. The company currently owns a 48% stake in C+PA and a 27% holding in Cementos del Marquesado for which it hopes to raise €47.2million and €11.05million, respectively.

Terex claims to have created the ultimate smooth riding articulated dump truck following the launch of its new full suspension. Claire Symes reports

Finning has announced that it has struck what it calls a ground breaking deal with the Raymond Brown Group for three year service support on nine new Caterpillar machines. The new £1million (€1.16million) fleet will be used by the company’s its construction, minerals and recycling divisions. The deal includes five Cat 320DL excavators, two Cat 962H wheel loaders, one Cat 966H wheel loader and a Cat M318DL material handler, with a guaranteed three year uptime promise for every machine. Finning has said that

Russia’s Ministry of Regional Development has announced plans to increase its support of the construction materials industry threefold over current levels with €42billion promised over the next 10 years. Under the plan, 60% of the money would be made up of grants and the remainder as loans to companies operating in the sector and authorities are also to decrease taxation for companies engaged in exploration of deposits of materials used in construction.

Greece-based Titan has announced that it ahs appointed Vasilios Zarkalis as its new finance director. Zarkalis previously served as executive director for group business development and has extensive business and cross functional experience both in Greece and abroad.

Rapidly rising fuel prices across Europe over the last decade look set to continue, driving increased demand for new fuel efficient equipment. Claire Symes takes a look at Caterpillar's latest development. It is estimated that around 40% of hauling costs within a quarry come from the cost of fuelling equipment to carry out the work. Without investment in more fuel efficient equipment, this cost is set to rise in the long term as fuel costs in Europe continue to soar.

Heidelberg Cement has underlined its commitment to the environment with the launch of a new carbon neutral initiative for customers in Benelux. Under the new CO2 offsetting scheme, Heidelberg will purchase CO2 credits to give its customers in the Benelux countries a way to “offset” the emissions related to the construction of a building or infrastructure. The company has said that investment will be in projects, which comply with the strictest environmental standards and with a particular focus on renewable

Holcim’s Slovakian subsidiary Slavensko has forecast the construction materials market to stabilise this year after the company saw sales slide by over 30% last year. Slavenko has reported that sales of cement dropped by 36% last year, while aggregates and concrete were down 18% and 28%, respectively, on 2008 levels. The company recorded a net profit of €3.8million last year from sales of €109.57million.

French aggregate association Unicem has reported a rise in aggregate production for the third consecutive month in March this year. The organisation has reported that production reached 32.27million tonnes in March, up from 17.48million and 22.5million tonnes in January and February, respectively.

Rock blasted from a new cross border tunnel on the new Turin to Lyon rail link is to be crushed and screened as aggregates by Holcim and Vicat. Project developer LTF has estimated that the 57km tunnel will generate 14million m3 of material and it is likely that most of the aggregates produced will be reused in the scheme.

Improving operator comfort is now a common theme on new quarry machines, but that wasn't always the case as Mike Woof explains. Cab design and operator comfort seen on present day machines is being continually improved but it is worth appreciating by just how much the working environment has improved, particularly in the last 20 years.

An industry with strong company consolidation and high use of recycled materials is the result of a maturing aggregates market in the UK. Adrian Greeman reports. In the last ten years the UK aggregates sector has come to be dominated by five major companies, all multi-national and all operating in allied sectors such as asphalt, cement and ready mixed concrete sales and contracting. They all offer an increasingly sophisticated product, in both quality of material and in customer service, in order to compe

The European Aggregates Association's recent 20th anniversary was marked with a celebration of achievements in sustainability and a commitment to biodiversity. Claire Symes reports

Since it was first established in 1987, the European Aggregates Association (UEPG) has grown from humble beginnings to represent 22 national quarrying organisations. According to UEPG secretary general Anthony Fell, the association wanted to mark its 20 year milestone with a constructive event rather than just a celebration, a

CE markings of asphalt materials will bring traceability that could clear the way for easier high performance recycling. Claire Symes reports. With gaining planning permission to extract virgin aggregates becoming increasingly difficult in Europe, the need to recycle has never been greater. But although the volume of recycled asphalt planings (RAP) being reused in roads is growing, most are placed back as base courses with additional virgin aggregates being used to form the surface courses.

Improved access to information and easier navigation is promised by Cemex’s new corporate website. The re-designed site is said to feature state-of-the-art web technology with more comprehensive information than ever before. Cemex has said that www.cemex.com provides improved navigation, as well as easy-to-find information for architects, builders and other customers, investors, analysts, traders, people looking for a job, the media and the public in general.

Estonia-based Heidelberg Cement subsidiary Kunda Nordic Tsement is reported to have commissioned Sweco Projeckt to draw up plans to expand its port facilities at Kunda. The expansion will include construction of four new terminals and a covered storage area and the company hopes to start work on the scheme next year.

Consent of new aggregates reserves in the UK is failing to keep pace with the rate of consumption, despite the current low level of demand in the region. BDS Marketing has reported that access to 125million tonnes of reserves was secured in 2010 but this is lower than the production of 150million tonnes during the same period. The report claims that, apart from in 2006, demand has outstripped consent of new reserves for the last 15 years.

Russia-based Granit-Kuznechnoye has announced that it has acquired the assets of 436 KNI as part of a €24million deal. The assets include a 1million m3 per year crushing and screening plant and gneiss granite reserves in Vyborg which are licenced to extract around 84million tonnes per year.

The UK’s aggregates organisation the Mineral Products Association has called on government to reduce the level of and re-assess the environmental rationale of the Aggregates Levy. The call comes after the government announced plans to scrap the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund through which part of the tax weas used to fund local projects around quarries. According to the MPA, the Aggregates Levy is nominally an environmental tax, but has been subject to no environmental assessment, has no related enviro