Global Concrete News

Colombia: Cementos Argos reported first-half sales of US$6.71bn for 2023, up by 25% year-on-year, El Colombiano newspaper has reported. Wet weather in the US and a slowing residential construction market in Colombia contributed to a 6.5% drop in concrete sales to 3.5Mm³. The company’s earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 45% to US$1.3bn, while its net profit rose by 56% to US$179m.

President Juan Esteban Calle said "In the first half of 2023 we achieved relevant milestones that demonstrate our commitment to generating value for our shareholders and other stakeholders. The progress in the execution of our share price recovery initiative, the growth in revenues and the expansion in the profitability margins of the businesses in our main markets motivate us to continue working every day to generate value for all our stakeholders."

Romania: CRH subsidiary Romcim has acquired precast concrete producer Bauelemente from Michael Dietrich. Bauelemente operates plants at Aricestii Rahtivani in Prahova County, Bolintin in Ilfov County and Cristian in Sibiu County. The company will continue to operate under the new branding 'Bauelemente, a CRH company.' Romcim now controls six precast concrete plants, with 500 employees.

Romcim's building materials general manager Monica Tudor said "We are happy to welcome our new Bauelemente colleagues to Romcim and the CRH family."

Australia: Alternative cement and concrete producers have welcomed a new Australian civil engineering standard that allows builders to use reduced-CO₂ geopolymer concrete in infrastructure projects. Wagners, which produces Earth Friendly Concrete (EFC), said that the revision has removed one if its key barriers to wider market acceptance. EFC replaces 100% of cement with supplementary cementitious materials, including ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) and pulverised fly ash, by virtue of its binder technology. Wagners previously supplied EFC for the London Power Tunnels project in the UK, based on local technical approval-based building codes. The producer now expects a new standard like the Australian one to follow in the EU.

India: Nuvoco has announced the launch of its InstaMix Superior Column Concrete. The product’s formulation gives it workability for up to four hours, and a strength of 6MPa within 12 - 16 hours, enabling early de-shuttering of cast columns. Nuvoco will supply the concrete in 35kg bags.

Nuvoco's ready-mix concrete and modern building materials head, Prashant Jha, said "Quality and customer experience are at centre stage for our business operations. InstaMix Superior Column Concrete belongs to the renowned InstaMix brand, known for delivering exceptional performance and quality, making it the preferred choice of customers.”

US: Prometheus Materials' microalgae biocement-based bioconcrete has demonstrated 12 times greater sound absorption than concrete produced using ordinary Portland cement (OPC). Prometheus Materials' bioconcrete contains its biocement, which is produced at ambient temperature, without process CO₂ emissions.