Global Concrete News

Czech Republic: Cemex Czech Republic has successfully commissioned its Prague-Libuš ready-mix concrete batching plant in Prague, following an upgrade. The upgraded plant can now process five types of cements and admixtures, including Cemex’s Vertua reduced-CO₂ concretes and recycled aggregates. Cemex Czech Republic has installed two recycled aggregates production plants at the site to process residual concrete.

Cemex’s vice president materials, Central Europe, Ruediger Kuhn said “Our plant in Libuš forms an important part of our operation in the Czech republic, thanks to its interesting location in the wider centre of the capital and in the immediate vicinity of the planned construction of the Prague Metro D line. We are therefore very pleased to have this site reopened following a considerable investment.” He added “The development at this site confirms Cemex’s determination to offer its customers superior quality products while also meeting its sustainability objectives, supporting the circular economy and reducing emissions wherever possible.”

UK: Holcim subsidiary Aggregate Industries has acquired mortars producer Eco-Readymix. Aggregate Industries that the acquisition will reinforce its position in the north west of England, and help to establish its place in the mortars market.

Aggregate Industries CEO Dragan Maksimovic said “This also marks our entry into the UK mortars market with a knowledgeable and ambitious management that has multiple synergies with our own. The acquisition supports our long-term strategy to continue to grow our business in order to become the UK’s leading supplier of sustainable construction materials and solutions.”

Argentina: Holcim Argentina has launched a new line of liquid additives under the brand Tector. The line encompasses two products: Tector Hydrophobic 1230 reduces permeability in cementitious mortars, improving workability and corrosion resistance, while Tector Latex 1700 enhances adhesion, flexibility and plasticity in various applications, reducing surface cracking and flaking.

UAE: Saint-Gobain Weber has installed a new system at its Abu Dhabi mortars plant to recover dust from its crusher and re-inject it into the plant’s raw materials stream. This is part of a package of upgrades to lower the Abu Dhabi plant’s consumption of virgin materials, which also reduced its generation of waste by 4380t/yr between 2019 and 2023. The L’Usine Nouvelle newspaper has reported that other investments included the electrification of the plant’s forklift fleet.

Saint-Gobain reduced its Scope 1 and 2 CO₂ emissions by 14%, its non-recycled waste by 78% and its water footprint by 10% in the Middle East between 2017 and 2023.

Europe: Cemex has enhanced safety across its European Admixtures facilities during 2023 with the implementation of new assistance systems supplied by Linde Material Handling. The systems include a reverse assist camera for forklifts. The group installed the technology at its Salzkotten admixtures plant in Germany and its Rugby admixtures plant in the UK. It will now implement the upgrade at its Alicante admixtures plant in Spain, as well other sites across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) during 2024.

Cemex European regional director of admixtures Dietmar Voetsch said “At Cemex, we are always looking for new processes and innovations to ensure safety in our workplaces. Linde’s safety guard system and reverse assist camera are ideal solutions for occupational safety in our Admixtures plants; we were immediately convinced by the technology and the feedback we’ve received from employees who have used it has been extremely positive. Once the European rollout is complete, we are excited to adapt the technology further for use in our admixtures plants across the wider EMEA region.”

Linde Material Handling safety product manager Fabian Zimmerman said “We’re proud to have supported Cemex with the implementation of both the safety guard system and the reverse assist camera at their European admixtures plants. By installing these systems, the safety of daily situations like loading and unloading lorries or storage can be increased significantly. We provide these solutions as a retrofit; thus, complete fleets can be equipped with these assistance systems.”