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Major Cimpor shareholder Camargo Correa has said it has not ruled out launching a takeover bid for the company. Brazil-based Correa holds a 32.9% shareholding in Portuguese cement producer Cimpor.

Although it celebrated its 40th anniversary last year, the European Ready Mixed Concrete Organisation is firmly looking to the future. Claire Symes reports. Ready mixed concrete is an essential building material in modern-day construction but until the 1920s concrete was manufactured in batches on demand and on site. Today the industry in Europe alone produces almost 400million cubic metres of material each year off site at hi-tech plants.

Lack of orders this year and staff strikes have been cited as the cause of financial difficulties at Slovenia-based Vemont, despite recording a turnover of €9.8million in 2010. The company filed for bankruptcy last week. Staff working for the company have been striking because the company has not paid wages since January 2011.

Demand for aggregates in Poland reached 110million tonnes in the first six months of 2011 – up 6million tonnes on the same period last year due to increased road construction activity. Aggregate volumes for the full year of 2010 reached 200million tonnes but demand this year is expected to be between 215 and 220million tonnes.

Russia-based Southern Industrial Corporation (YUPK) has officially opened its new €5million rock crushing and screening plant at its site in the Republic of Adygeya. The new plant is expect to increase aggregate capacity in the region by 50% to 3million tonnes per year. The material will be sold to markets in the south of Russia and the quarry will also supply Olympic construction projects in Sochi.

Efforts to reduce carbon emissions at Lafarge’s Teresa cement plant in the Philippines have been officially recognised as having achieved a global standard. The project to recover heat from the plant to turn into electricity has been registered as a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) by the CDM executive committee in Bonn, Germany. The project at Teresa provides 30% of the plant’s electricity needs and has helped reduce carbon emissions by 12,000tonnes per year. This project is the fourth with Lafarge to ac

A new Norwegian weighing system can help save time and reduce fuel consumption. Alan Peterson reports. Modern wheel loaders are well designed for increased productivity under any condition but the addition of an onboard weighing system could further improve productivity. The Loadtronic weighing system, from Norway-based Aanderaa, automatically registers what, to where and exactly how much is loaded. Quick load handling and accurate weight registration can reduce time and fuel consumption between loading cyc

Poor winter trading due to weather conditions has been blamed as UK-based C&G Concrete’s business went into administration this week. The company’s 120 staff, which work across its aggregates, ready mixed concrete and mortar facilities, are hopeful that expressions of interest received by administrator Price Waterhouse Coopers will result in the business remaining in operation.

Strong growth in demand for cement in Poland in April has led to suggestions that the sector will see 10% growth for the whole year in 2011. According to Polish Association of Cement Producers (SPC) president Jan Deja, demand last month reached 1.7million tonnes, which was up 17.4% on the same period last year. As a result he has revised his full year growth forecast from 7% up to 10%. Further growth is also forecast for next year and the association has suggested that this trend will continue until 2015.

The latest survey of industry sales volumes from the UK Mineral Products Association (MPA) shows a mixed picture in the second quarter of 2011. Aggregates and asphalt sales were 4% lower than the second quarter of 2010 and ready mixed concrete and cement sales 2% and 1% higher respectively than a year previously. Taking into account the positive first quarter in 2011, the markets have been stronger in the first half-year than had been expected due to some growth in private sector construction in early 2011

Proposals to accelerate carbon reduction plans in the UK may place the energy intensive industries in a less competitive position, according to the Mineral Products Association. The claim came after the UK government accepted proposals made by the fourth report of the Climate Change Committee. "The UK minerals products industry, including cement and industrial lime, has achieved very significant reductions in carbon emissions in recent years and is committed to doing more,” said MPA chief executive Nigel Ja

Local media has reported that Lafarge will go ahead with plans to build a new 2million tonne per year cement plant in the Rostov region of Russia. The company is said to be planning to open the €450million plant in two stages with the grinding facility starting work in late 2013 and the rest of the plant becoming fully operational in 2015. The new facility will be supplied with material from the Kulbakinskoye deposit.

Improvements in safety and fuel efficiency are promised for Lafarge’s UK aggregates delivery operation with orders placed for 20 new Renault Premium Lander trucks. The new 8x4 trucks will be equipped with tipper bodies and will be used to replace older trucks in Lafarge’s fleet. Among the advances on the Renaults are overhead cable warnings to prevent cable strikes when tipping and auto-gearbox as standard to enhance driver safety and boost fuel consumption. There are also weight detection cells on the PPG

Capability to load a variety of materials has led UK-based rental firm Arnold Plant Hire to invest in two Volvo wheeled loaders for the first time. The company needed machines to meet a long term contract hire which involves handling a wide variety of road materials ranging from road planings, aggregates, asphalt to sub base and crushed concrete. “We’ve had experience with excavators from the Volvo range that gave us good reliability and availability but this is the first time we’ve switched to their loadin

Tarmac UK has announced plans to fit vehicles in its aggregates fleet with Masternaut satellite tracking to improve performance. Tarmac's UK Aggregates Products Division has announced earlier this year that it has signed a new deal that will help to improve delivery of materials to its customers. The company is to equip its 1350 vehicle fleet with the Masternaut satellite and mobile tracking system, which will be rolled out over the next three months. The system has been specifically developed for Tarmac to

Cement demand in April was at its lowest level in Spain for 22 years, according to the national cement producers association Oficemen. The slowdown in the construction market and the Easter break have been blamed for the 17.5% drop in demand compared to April 2010.

Lafarge’s largest quarry in the UK is gearing up for visits from around 800 school children over the next few months as part of a campaign by the company to reduce the risk of accidents over the summer period. The company said that the aims are to show youngsters that quarries are not a playground as well as tying into lessons about rocks and soils, the environment, and industry and nature. The visits also provide an opportunity to build positive relationships within the community. Older students, scientis

UK-based Breedon Aggregates has reported a marked improvement in parts of its business in the first quarter of 2011. Speaking at the company’s AGM, chairman Peter Tom said, “Trading in the first three months of the year was encouraging, with a marked improvement in the performance of our English business, and sales continued to hold up reasonably well in April despite a number of public holidays. We have been particularly pleased that asphalt price increases have held, helping to offset sharply higher bitum

Hungary-based Nostra Cement - a joint venture between Lafarge and Strabag - will officially open its new 1million tonne per year cement plant in Kirayegyhaza at the end of June. Work on the €270million facility will continue through to September this year. The new facility will have capacity to produce 1million tonnes of cement and 750,000tonnes of clinker per year and will be supplied with raw materials by the limestone quarry in Bukkosd, which will be transported to the site by a new 5km long rail link.

Cimpor CEO Francisco Lacerda has said that the company will offset contracting markets in Portugal and Spain with increased focus on Brazil to deliver growth within the business. Lacerda said that key events such as the Olympic Games and Football World Cup will help to drive significant growth in the market.