Global Concrete News

Costa Rica: América Construcciones (AMCO) is preparing to inaugurate its new Villarreal de Tamarindo ready-mix concrete batching plant and office complex in Guanacaste on 22 August 2024. The entire facility cost US$1.05m and the plant has a production capacity of 110m³/hr.

General manager Pablo Labarca said "We have several areas of interest in the province, but Santa Cruz is particularly interesting to us because we know that many of AMCO's clients that are currently developing projects in the area have particular requirements, both in terms of the quality of the products, as well as the level of service they expect.”

Kyrgyzstan: Electric Stations says it has finished building a new concrete plant in Shamaldy-Sai, Jalal-Abad. Business World Magazine has reported that the plant is now in the final phase of equipment installation. Commissioning is scheduled for September 2024.

Bahamas: Cementos Argos has supplied nearly 10,000t of cement for the concrete used for Disney Cruise Line's new 700m-long pier at Lighthouse Point on Eleuthera Island, accounting for 85% of the total required. The project cost US$250m and is part of expansion plans to accommodate over one million visitors annually. Cement was sourced through the company’s exports from Puerto Rico between 2022 and 2024.

Finland/Germany: Heidelberg Materials and Metsä Wood have launched a concrete-based wall element designed to replace conventional walls in construction. The product is comprised of insulation and laminated veneer lumber, sandwiched between two layers of reduced-CO2 concrete. The Cool Down News has reported that the element has 30 – 50% lower CO₂ emissions than conventional concrete walls, according to its developers. It also reduces the total weight of the wall by 60%.

Metsä Wood business development manager Håkan Arnebrant said "One of the advantages of this hybrid element is that builders do not have to change their way of building with concrete elements, but can still lower their emissions. At the same time, the walls can be made 50 – 75mm thinner than walls built with concrete elements, which can give quite a few extra square meters in a building."

UK: Precast concrete producer FP McCann plans to invest €105m in expansions and upgrades to its plants. The plans include the launch of multiple new product lines, including a new decorative paving range, due for launch in September 2024. Another new line will build drainage pipes, complementing its portfolio of concrete products for below-ground applications. Upgrades include the installation of an additional bagging line at a mortars plant. Local press has reported that a total of 100 new jobs will be created as a result.

FP McCann said “We constantly take on board customer feedback, and the investment in these new products and services is driven by their needs. FP McCann’s unique multi-product load offering has been a fantastic success. Builders’ merchants no longer have to coordinate multiple deliveries of single product loads, each often carrying a part-load surcharge. With the introduction of our new decorative paving range, we can now offer up to eight different products on a single load, and as more products come online we will expand this service further.”