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One of Poland's leading quarry operators was one of the smallest when it became the country's first Privately owned aggregates business. Claire Symes visited the site to find out about this rapid growth. Like all Polish quarries Kopalnie Dolomitu was once state owned but the company made history when it became the first privately operated quarry business in 1996. Since then, managing director Longin Bokwa has steered the company through rapid growth and investment.

Sustained recovery in demand for building materials in Europe and Central Asia helped Heidelberg Cement to record increases in both turnover and profits in the second quarter of 2011, compared to the same period last year. Turnover was up 3% to €3.4billion, while profit was up 25.2% to €208million due to lower financing costs. Despite the improvement in the bottom line, Heidelberg said that there had been a significant increase in energy costs in the last three months. Also, negative exchange rate effects i

Aggregate washing is helping quarries in Europe to improve the quality of end products and add value. Claire Symes looks at the technological developments. Stricter aggregates specifications and the need to make the best use of all extracted material is driving greater use of washing equipment. But the latest technology means that this growth does not have to significantly impact on energy or water consumption.

Lithuanian cement manufacturer Akmenes Cementas is said to be negotiating on a contract to supply cement for the construction of the Baltic Nuclear Power Plant (BaltAES) in Russia's Kaliningrad. Lietuvos Rytas reported that Yevgeni Vlasenko, director of BaltAES, confirmed that the company was in talks about a large order from Akmenes Cementas. The nuclear plant would need thousands of tonness of cement.

According to reports, Libya has recommenced importing cement from Albania. The imports stopped around two months ago, affecting business at Albania's Port of Durres. Libya previously imported between 20-30tonnes of cement per month from Albania.

Titan Cement of Greece has seen its revenues drop by 43.3% decrease in the first half of 2011 to €116.90 million, and a 39.7% drop in its EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amorisation) interest to €28.3 million, while its net profits fell by 98% to €300,000 compared with the corresponding period in 2010. At group level its revenues dropped by 18.2% to €557 million, while its EBITDA fell by 12.4% to €141.4 million and its net profits decreased by 65.7% to €23.4 million.

Italian construction material specialist Buzzi Unicem has posted a 9.1% year-on-year increase in turnover to €1.34 billion in the first half of 2011. However, the company’s net profits fell by 29.8% to €11.9 million, with EBITDA down 3.2% to €183.1 million. The drop in profitability has been attributed to high production costs and poor price levels. Buzzi Unicem's debts increased to €1.26 billion.

Building materials group CRH has been told to sell its stake in Secil to its joint venture partner, Portuguese industrial holding company Semapa. Secil is a Portuguese manufacturer of cement and ready-mixed concrete, and since October 2009, when CRH last made an announcement on this matter, CRH and Semapa have been engaged in arbitration proceedings to resolve disagreements between them. This culminated in an award by an Arbitral Tribunal in Paris, France, functioning under the Rules of Arbitration of the I

The versatility of articulated trucks, along with availability of larger machines, means they are gaining ground on rigid alternatives. Claire Symes reports. lendinning's Linhay Hill Quarry used to operate a fleet of rigid dump trucks (RDTs), but over the last year the fleet has gradually been replaced by smaller articulated machines. The UK-based quarry operator initially trialled one 40 tonne articulated dump truck (ADT) but has now ordered a second for the site near Ashburton, Devon.

When the time came to change its old static crushing plant, one scottish quarry decided to go mobile and bought an entirely neW system. Patrick Smith reports

A company that has supplied secondary lightweight aggregate and concrete solutions for some of the most notable design projects in Britain has appointed a new technical and quality manager. Andrew Cross will be based at Lytag’s head office in County North Yorkshire and is providing technical expertise for users of the company’s lightweight aggregate (LWA) across the world.

CRH has announced 23 acquisition and investment initiatives totalling approximately €0.4 billion undertaken during the second-half of 2011 as part of its continuing programme of development activity. This brings the total 2011 development spend to €0.6 billion. In Europe Materials, three acquisitions and one investment totalling €195 million have been made.

Cemex UK's new Tilbury plant has been opened to meet future demand but the design also includes meeting future needs for greener transport. Cement production is widely known as one of the most energy intensive industries but efforts to reduce the embodied CO2 are being made. Many cement plants now use alternative fuels, making use of waste materials and blending cements with other secondary materials.

A new general manager has been named at cement company Lafarge in Spain. Isidoro Miranda, the current assistant general manager, will take on the role as part of the group's reorganisation which aims to develop the company’s strategy towards markets and customers. Lafarge operates in Spain via Lafarge Cementos and Lafarge Aridos y Hormigones.

Horseriders and walkers are enjoying fresh views of the County Hertfordshire, south-east England, countryside thanks to a new bridleway. The route, constructed by Lafarge Aggregates & Concrete UK, provides a link around the perimeter of Tyttenhanger Quarry towards the Watling Chase Trail, a popular 11mile (17.6km) track through the Watling Chase Community Forests from Borehamwood to St Albans.

Conveyors have always played a key role in quarry operations but new developments are improving their potential to boost productivity. High fuel costs were driving more quarries to consider conveyors as an alternative hauling option in many quarries in Europe. But conveyors can also offer benefits when it comes to stockpiling and the latest developments have extended the advantages to mobile machines.

Ireland-based Telestack has introduced a new range of high capacity mobile stockpiling conveyors to th

Poland produced some 220million-230million tonnes of aggregates in 2011, which is a record-breaking result boosted by construction investments, mostly commercial construction projects which have a 60% share in total aggregate consumption The share of the infrastructure construction reaches some 30%, while remaining construction segments hold a 10% share in total. A total of 4% of aggregates consumed in Poland come from import.

Swedish demolition and second hand construction materials supplier Byggrecycling is reported to have filed for bankruptcy. The company, based in Sundsvall, has been active for 13 years but has shown heavy losses in recent years, having to reduce its workforce as a result.

In Russia, according to the head of Ministry of Transport Igor Levitin, the cost of construction materials for road construction in regions may increase sharply because of growth in road construction financing. He says it is necessary to create a monitoring system which will allow tracking of the prices growth for materials and work. The road construction financing in regions in 2012 will total €9.38 billion and even more in 2013 and 2014.

In Kostanay, Kazakhstan, MBI has launched a paving stone plant having a design capacity of 33,500m³ or 400,000m² of products a year. Automated German equipment as well as Iranian and local raw materials will allow the plant to manufacture high-quality damage-proof slabs. Kostanay MBI intends to reach the full capacity this month. Some 60% of products are planned to be exported. Investment in the project totalled €3.93 million.