Europe & CIS

Imran Akram, IA Cement, UK, discusses demand prospects and trends for the global cement market in 2014, beginning with a look at Europe.

MPA The Concrete Centre has partnered with Laing O'Rourke to provide a student competition for engineering students across the UK.

Lipetskcement, a subsidiary of Eurocement Group, conducted preparatory programmes, retraining and qualification courses for 246 employees in 2013.

Irish building materials company CRH has announced its acquisitions and investments for 2H13, bringing total spending for the year to €690 million.

Materials technology group Ceram will change its name to Lucideon in February in response to its expanding portfolio and business acquisitions.

The European Commission has rejected a referral request from the German Competition Authority on the grounds that the impact of the acquisition would extend beyond national borders.

Georgia exported 411 730 t of cement to Azerbaijan in January – November 2013; Russia’s Akhangarancement reports increased production levels during the period.

In the year since its launch, Hope Construction Materials has achieved a £300 million turnover and sold 2 million m3 of concrete, 1.3 million t of cement and 4 million t of aggregates.

Eurocement has introduced a project for processing waste as an alternative fuel and new environmental measures have been implemented by its subsidaries, Oskolcement and Belgorodskiy Cement.

Myles Lee has retired as Group Chief Executive after 32 years with CRH. He is succeeded by Albert Manifold.

World Cement featured a plant tour of the Calusco plant in the August 2013 issue. This short video shows some of the highlights.

MPA's new Sustainable Development Report focuses upon sustainable development aspirations in the cement manufacturing process.

The Management Board and Supervisory Board of KHD have published a joint statement concerning the takeover bid of AVIC International Engineering Holdings Pte. Ltd.

EUPAVE has announced the appointment of Stéphane Nicoud as President and André Burger as Vice President.

Oficemen expects domestic cement consumption to decline by 20% in 2013, as it continues to raise concerns about the effect of high electricity prices on exports.