Cement news highlights: 16 – 20 February

Engineering and construction

• According to recent statistics, there were 1.008 million engineers in employment in Germany at the end of 2014, with mechanical engineers taking the largest share.
• Annual average growth of 3.8% forecast for global construction market in 2015.
• The latest estimates from Eurostat indicate that average production in construction for 2014 was 2% higher in the euro area than in 2013 and 3% higher in the EU28.
• The Construction Equipment and Building Material Machinery Association of the German Engineering Federation (VDMA) has reported an 8% growth in turnover for 2014, at €8.4 billion – higher than originally expected.
• Privately-owned housing unit starts increased by 18.7% y/y to 1.065 million in the US in the first month of 2015.

Events

• Increased number of exhibitors and participants at World of Concrete 2015, which took place in Las Vegas earlier this month.
• The UK’s Mineral Products Association attended the London Bike Show, where it helped to promote the new Construction Logistics and Cyclist Safety Standard and raise awareness of key safety messages.
• Volvo CE’s President, Martin Weissburg, outlined the company’s carbon reduction initiatives at the World Wide Fund for Nature 2015 Climate Savers China Annual Conference earlier this month.
• The 11^th edition of the Birla White YuvaRatna Awards took place on 14 February at the Hotel Renaissance, Powai, Mumbai.

Plants and contracts

• D.G. Khan Cement plans new plant near Karachi.
• India’s UltraTech Cement has won the bid for Bicharpur coal block in Madhya Pradesh, which has reserves of more than 29 million t.
• Hans G. Hauri KG Mineralstoffwerke in Bötzingen, Germany, has ordered an MVR 1800 C-2 vertical roller mill from Gebr. Pfeiffer.
• The Ulyanovskcement plant, which is currently undertaking an expansion project, also saw a 4% y/y increase in sales in the first month of the year.

This week’s not to be missed articles…

• Lafarge has reported its FY14 and 4Q14 results, which show the positive impact of a 4% increase in cement volumes and the completion of its cost reduction and innovation objectives.
• Prometheus Group and SMEC have formed a global partnership, which will initially focus on the cement and aggregates industry.

Written by Louise Fordham

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/europe-cis/20022015/cement-news-highlights-16-20-february-2015-379/