India: Birla Corporation held the inauguration of its new Ayodhya ready-mix concrete plant in Uttar Pradesh on 6 September 2025. The Lokmat Times newspaper has reported that the plant is part of Birla Corporation’s ‘asset-light’ national growth strategy around its core cement business. The company is reportedly exploring opportunities to grow its ready-mix concrete business in other parts of the country.
Russia: Primorsky Plant of Building Materials plans to establish a US$23.9m, 300,000m³/yr autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) block plant in Bolshoy Kamen Industrial Park, Primorsky Krai. The project has secured financing from Russian state credit institute VTB, with the plant scheduled for commissioning in April 2026.
State-owned AK&M News has reported that the plant will meet 33% of Russia’s Far Eastern regional consumption of AAC blocks, creating 78 direct jobs.
New Zealand: Concrete New Zealand, the pan-industry New Zealand concrete association, has published its 2024 Sustainability Report. It shows ready-mix concrete production of 4.14Mm3, in line with 2023 levels, across 194 batching plants. There were also 18 precast concrete plants in operation.
The report highlights members’ initiatives towards Concrete New Zealand’s sustainability goals, including a planned 44% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 CO₂ emissions between 2020 and 2030. Developments during 2024 included Kayasand Engineered Sand’s development of a novel engineered sand from quarry by-products; Bridgeman Concrete’s automation of its deliveries and Bullocks Group’s adoption of Eco-Cem cement in combination with on-site solar power generation, electric loaders and recycling of water and aggregates to cut 90kg/m3 of CO2 from a 40% blend of its Eco-Max concrete.
National construction sales dropped by 3% quarter-on-quarter to US$13.3bn in the second quarter of 2025.
Belgium: Construction firm AXA IM Alts has won a Low Carbon Building Initiative (LCBI) Performance level label, validated by Bureau Veritas, for its Luxia development in Brussels. LCBI labels reflect buildings’ whole-lifecycle CO₂ emissions. The Luxia building reuses 13,000m² of preserved foundations and concrete from the demolished building which previously stood on its site. It has CO₂ emissions of 931kg/m², Gulf Oil & Gas News has reported.
