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ABE is pleased to announce Peter Gray, who works for Aggregate Industries in the UK, as the winner of the prize draw held during the recent Hillhead exhibition. Gray’s business card was selected at random from cards left by visitors to the magazine’s stand at the event and he wins a 4GB iPod Shuffle. ABE would like to thank everyone who took part in the draw and also anyone else who came along to the stand during the show.

Euro Auctions has announced that it is planning its first quarry equipment specific auction on 14 September this year. The event at Windmill Hill Quarry, near Dublin, Ireland will be used to auction off equipment no longer required following the restructuring of the Larry Behan Group, plus other items of quarry equipment. Items up for auction include asphalt plants, both static and mobile crushing and screening equipment and loading and hauling equipment.

Cemex France has invest €900,000 in a reconditioned multi-bucket excavator for its Salles-sur-Garonne gravel quarry to raise extraction to 500tonnes per hour. The 190tonne 1985 Pelerin was renovated by Spie Mécanique Industrielle de Nègrepelisse for Cemex.

While the global financial crisis is yet to hit aggregate prices significantly the impact on volumes is already being felt. Metso Minerals' Luis Santos talks to Claire Symes about market changes in Europe during 2008. Ex-works aggregate prices are usually a good indicator of the state of the sector but 2008 appears to be the exception to the rule and it is declining volumes that are pointing to the problem areas.

Energy efficiency measures introduced by Halyps Cement have helped the company become the first within the Italcementi Group to gain EN 16001:2009 certification. “Energy is a vital and valuable resource,” said Halyps technical director Antonio Romano. “Halyps recognises the need for a decisive contribution to energy saving and conservation of energy sources, especially fossil fuels, and this also means cost savings. I strongly believe that systematic action is necessary to achieve this goal, and a managemen

Hormigones Caleta has announced that it is to streamline its concrete producing business in Spain by absorbing three of its subsidiaries into the main company. Under the plan, Hormigones Monduber, Hormigones Xuqer and Hormigones La Cala will be brought under the Hormigones Caleta name, taking the number of concrete plants operated by the company from five to 12.

Germany’s Federal Cartel Office has announced that it is to launch an investigation of the country’s concrete products sector to look into price fixing allegations. The organisation has said that the investigation covers company operating in the precast concrete elements industry, specifically those involved in the manufacture of prefabricated garages, concrete pipes, paving stones and wall elements.

The Albanian government has announced that it has reached an agreement for development of a new cement plant in part of the national forest. Under the plan, Gener-2 will develop a cement plant and lightweight block manufacturing facility on the site.

Lafarge has contributed to the project to create beaches along the River Seine in Paris, France for the ninth consecutive year. Since 2002, Lafarge has sponsored the Paris Plage event and supplied 2000tonnes of sand for the creation of the beach areas. There are 11 partners in total, including French book publisher Flammarion, which supplies a library, and Paris water operator Eau de Paris, which supplies drinking water. French supermarket chain Franprix offers workshops on making smoothies. The partners co

Germany-based Dyckerhoff is reported to be planning to invest a total of €300million in upgrading a cement plant in the Ukraine, in which it has a majority share. Under the plan the Volyn plant will be improved with new production technology, upgraded kilns and a new packaging plant, as well as a switch from gas to coal power. So far the company has invested €70million of the total figure at the plant and around €14.6million is allocated for work during 2010.

Dalmacijacement has launched a new white cement product for the market in Croatia in a bid to meet demand for high quality decorative materials. The bagged white cement product is the first of its kind to be offered by the Cemex subsidiary and is the result of a partnership with Cemex’s Buñol factory in Spain.

Joaquín Estrada, the new chairman of Oficemen, the Spanish Association of Cement Producers, has said that the cement industry in Spain is currently working at 50% of its installed capacity and as a result some of the sector's 37 factories will have to shut down temporarily. Estrada, who is also the director general of Cemex España, has not specified any more details. However, official sources from Cemex España are said to have stated that for the moment the cement group's plants at Alicante and Bunol are no

Cemex has blamed lower sales in the US and Europe for drops in both net sales and profits in the second quarter of this year, compared to the same period in 2009. According to a statement from the company, sales were down 3% at US$3.8billion and EBITDA decreased to US$664million, down 13% on 2009 levels for the period between April and June.

“The extreme turbulence experienced in financial markets in the second half of 2008 took its toll on world economic activity in 2009, most particularly in Europe and the US,” he said. “Construction activity in these regions was hard hit as residential and non-residential markets declined, with government-funded infrastructure investment only partially compensating. Against this backdrop, and despite significant ongoing cost reduction efforts, CRH suffered a significant profit decline. “Despite this, we cont

The government in Belarus has announced that it is to open the tender process for a granite quarry in Sitnitsa on 10 March. It is estimated that there are 236m3 of reserves at the site in the Gomel region of the country. The winner of the contract will be announced on 3 October this year and investment agreements are due to be signed by the end of the year.

Construction work on a new cement plant was set to restart this month a year after the project was mothballed. Construction of Atcom’s new plant in Crimea, Ukraine started in March last year but was halted in summer 2009. The company said that foundation work on the plant was set to be started in July. The first stage of the 1.5million tonne plant is expected to be commissioned in early 2012 and will help the group increase cement supply to the region by 25%. A second stage that will raise production to 2.1

Today the efficiency of hydraulic excavators is taken for granted but before their introduction mechanical shovels provided excavation power. Mike Woof reports. Like the aeroplane, the mechanical excavator was an American invention. It was in 1835 that the need to dig material productively led to a major innovation, the first steam powered shovel, which was designed by William Otis. His design featured an upright boiler and a raised boom slewing system that was driven by chains. The boom assembly was able t

Reducing the temperature that asphalt is produced and laid at has significant benefits for the environment but achieving lower temperatures needs to be balanced with quality and durability. While increasing use of sustainable transport is frequently under the spotlight, few can argue against the social and economic need for roads in modern society. But the materials used for their construction and maintenance and the vehicles that use them all impact upon the environment. Nonetheless, reducing the temperatu

Turnover at Heidelberg Cement is up 10% in the second quarter, compared to the sale period in 2009, and the company has also announced increases in operating income. Sales for the period between April and June this year totalled €3.3billion, while operating income was recorded at €492million, up 10.4% from last year. The company has credited sustained growth in its Asia Pacific, Africa-Mediterranean basin and North America for the changing trend with sales of cement, aggregates and ready mixed concrete all

Lafarge has announced a 5% rise in operating income for the second quarter and a 2% rise in sales, compared to the same period in 2009. Operating income for the period reached €836million, while the company recorded sales of €4.43billion. Despite the increase, the growth was not sufficient to offset the declines in the first quarter so the company recorded a decline in both sales and operating income for the first half of 2010, compared to the previous year. Sales for the first six months were down 3% to €7