Global Concrete News

Australia: France-based Saint-Gobain has submitted a non-binding indicative offer of US$5.44bn for building materials producer and land banking entity CSR. CSR’s businesses include insulation producer Bradford, fibre cement systems producer Cemintel, wallboard producer Gyprock, autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) block producer Hebel and roofing producer Monier. Together, CSR’s building materials units accounted for 72% of its sales in 2023.

India: Nuvoco Vistas has inaugurated its second ready-mix concrete plant, at Ranipur Milki Chak in Bihar’s Patna District. The producer said that the plant, called Patna-II, is strategically positioned for access both to local cement plants and the urban concrete market of Patna. The plant commands 60m³/hr of capacity and is equipped with a twin shaft mixer capable of producing all grades of concrete. Its products include Nuvoco Vistas’ XCON, CONCRETO, Light Weight Concrete, Fibre Enriched Concrete, High Strength Concrete, Water and Crack Resistant Concrete, Foundation Expert Concrete, ECODURE Green Concrete, ARTISTE Decorative Concrete Floors, and INSTAMIX Ready-to-Use Bagged Concrete.

Chief of the ready-mix concrete and modern building materials Prashant Jha said "The launch of the Patna-II plant underscores Nuvoco's dedication to providing innovative solutions to meet the evolving needs of the construction industry in Bihar. This new facility will not only strengthen our presence in the region but also enable us to serve our customers more efficiently."

US: Vulcan Materials raised its sales by 6.4% year-on-year in 2023, from US$7.32bn to US$7.78bn. Its adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 24% to US$2bn, while its profit grew by 25% to US$1.95bn. Vulcan Materials’ full-year concrete volumes dropped, during which time it also divested some concrete operations. Altogether, the producer plans to invest US$625 – 675m in maintenance and growth projects in 2024.

Chair and CEO Tom Hill said "We carry momentum into 2024, and our focus is the same - compounding unit margins through all parts of the cycle and creating value for our shareholders through improving returns on capital."

UK: The UK Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) has launched a competition for projects that promote the commercial adoption of reduced-CO₂ concrete. The competition aims to foster collaboration between concrete users and clean technology developers. It commands US$3.78m in total available funding from Innovate UK. Winning projects will claim full funding up to a total value of US$631,000. Applicants can participate by submitting a real world demonstration of their innovation or an equivalent approach on the Innovate UK website.

The competition is supported by the Concrete Commitment Cohort (CCC), a new alliance of UK concrete users that includes Anglian Water, the Environment Agency, Ferrovial Construction, HS2, JN Bentley, Laing O’Rourke, National Highways, Sellafield Sites, Transport for London, United Utilities and WSP.

US: Martin Marietta Materials has signed a deal to buy 20 aggregates operations in the Southeast US from Blue Water Industries for US$2.05bn. Reuters has reported that the partners expect to close the deal later in 2024. Martin Marietta Materials says that the acquisitions will help it to meet rising national demand for building materials. The North Carolina-based group operates aggregates sites in 28 US states, Canada and the Bahamas.

Martin Marietta Materials previously indicated that recent divestitures in its ready-mix concrete business and other areas would help it to ‘redeploy the proceeds into pure-play aggregates acquisitions.’