Ecuador: Eden Innovations says that it has received orders from Holcim Ecuador for US$515,000-worth of EdenCrete Pz7 concrete ready-mix concrete. Eden Innovations will deliver the concrete to nine Holcim Ecuador concrete plants for use in high-strength concrete mixes and ECOPact reduced-CO₂ concrete mixes, starting from January 2026. The order raises Holcim Ecuador’s total purchases of EdenCrete Pz7 concrete to US$1.05m since February 2024. Eden Innovations anticipates a regular supply deal worth US$1.2m/yr.

Switzerland-based Holcim previously trialled EdenCrete concretes in Canada, Ecuador, France, Mexico, the UK and the US. Five Amrize plants in Colorado, US, currently have EdenCrete Pz7 bulk storage and dispensing equipment installed, with another planned at a plant in Canada.

US: Coastal Ready Mix plans to build a new ready-mix concrete batching plant in Horry County, South Carolina. WBTW News13 has reported that the plant will create 19 new jobs.

Romania: West Group subsidiary West Beton plans to invest €2.5m in its operations in 2026, in line with its total for 2025. Plans for 2026 include a further 25% increase in production volumes and expansions to the company’s vehicle fleet and product portfolio, to include self-compacting concrete, pervious concrete and concrete resistant to aggressive environments. It will also seek ISO 14067 certification for products’ environmental impacts.

The Diplomat newspaper has reported that current investments targeted the producer’s vehicle fleet, which includes 25 truck mixers and four pumps, alongside upgrades to the three plants. The producer has projected full-year deliveries of 200,000m³ of ready-mix concrete in 2025, up by 25% year-on-year. 180,000m³ (90%) of deliveries went to residential customers and the rest to ‘major infrastructure projects,’ including the construction of Bucharest Metro Line 6 and the A0 Motorway Bucharest ring-road.

West Group said "In the context of a significant decline of the ready-mix concrete market in 2025, West Beton's output increased. This result is a direct consequence of the investments made this year in this West Group business line, which generated almost one third of the Group's consolidated turnover across Romania and Germany. Our objective for next year is to expand into other regions of Romania and achieve a sustainable 25% increase in West Beton's production."

South Korea: Construction firm POSCO E&C and concrete production automation specialist SHLab have developed a new AI-based system for real-time monitoring and automatic quality adjustments in ready-mix concrete production. The Korea Times newspaper has reported that the system analyses video footage during mixing. It can predict the resulting concrete’s compressive strength and residual water inside mixer trucks.

POSCO E&C said "We will continue improving our AI technology to achieve even higher quality standards."