Global Concrete News

UK: Switzerland-based Neustark has partnered with Holcim subsidiary Aggregate Industries to launch the UK’s first mineralisation plant in Greenwich, London. The small-scale mobile plant will sequester CO₂ in recycled concrete produced using fines recovered from construction and demolition materials (CDM). The plant is situated at an existing Aggregates Industries CDM recycling site. A large-scale plant with a sequestration capacity of 1000t/yr of CO₂ is due to follow in early 2025.

Neustark CEO Valentin Gutknecht said "Neustark and Holcim have been working together almost since the founding of Neustark five years ago. 1Mt of CO₂ durably removed from the atmosphere in 2030 – that’s our ambition. We’re already well underway towards the megatonne goal. Our strategic partnership with Holcim represents a significant part of this roadmap. It will be a true catalyst to further scale up the permanent carbon removal impact that we generate in the next few years.”

Aggregate Industries CEO Lee Sleight said that the partnership would turn London into ‘one of the world’s largest urban mines.’ He said “This isn’t just a great carbon removal innovation but a great circular economy innovation, where we are taking what was once a waste stream and reusing it, saving us from digging up virgin materials in the first place."

Neustark has so far sequestered 2500t of CO₂ in circular concrete for use in further construction.

South Africa: Raubex recorded sales of US$617m in the first half of the 2025 financial year, following ‘strong performances’ across all divisions. This corresponds to a 30% year-on-year rise. Operating profit also grew, by 35%, to US$47.7m.

Raubex’s gypsum, concrete and aggregates subsidiary OMV performed ‘well,’ according to the parent company. It attributed the performance to a growth in the local construction industry.

Japan: Asahi Concrete Works raised its sales by 1% year-on-year from US$21.4m in the first half of 2023 to US$21.6m in the first half of 2024. This helped its net profit to grow by 22%, from US$1.50m to US$1.83m.

India: Environmental organisation Earth NGO has filed a public interest litigation petition for the closure of ready-mix concrete plants operated by Dev Infra, JSW Green Cement and Shri Lalit Nagpal in Mumbai’s Chembur and Govandi suburbs. The Free Press Journal newspaper has reported that Earth NGO alleges that the plants are failing to comply with air pollution rules, including by being situated close to residential buildings and a hospital.

The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board previously closed down one of the plants temporarily following protests in 2023. This reportedly led to a decline in pollution levels.

UAE: Fujairah Building Industries’ sales rose by 14% year-on-year to US$40.4m in the first nine months of 2024, from US$35.4m in the corresponding period of 2023. As a result, the producer grew its net profit by 39%, from US$3.31m to US$4.61m.