US: Holcim has acquired Louisiana-based Cajun Ready Mix Concrete. Cajun Ready Mix Concrete operates eight ready-mix concrete plants in Baton Rouge, with a total of 108 employees and 51 mixer trucks.

Holcim region head North America Toufic Tabbara said “This acquisition expands our footprint in the dynamic Baton Rouge market, confirming our focus on growth in North America. Cajun’s commitment to innovation, service and quality, along with its industry relationships and engineering capabilities, are an ideal addition to our business. We’re excited to work with the Cajun team to build further partnerships across this highly attractive growth region. I warmly welcome all Cajun employees into the Holcim family and look forward to unleashing our next era of growth together.”

Italy: BHS-Sonthofen has acquired planetary concrete mixer producer Eurostar Concrete Technology. The Germany-based group says that Eurostar Concrete Technology’s planetary concrete mixers will diversify its own product portfolio, increasing its equipment and service flexibility.

Eurostar Concrete Technology’s mixers have batch capacities of up to 6000l. Their applications include precast concrete blocks and pipes production, as well as the production of special concrete for environmental purposes and use in the glass industry.

BHS-Sonthofen’s managing director Dennis Kemmann said “For plant manufacturers and sales partners, the expansion means an even more attractive product portfolio at a high technological level and with robust drive technology.”

Germany: The Ministry for Economy and Climate Protection has presented HeidelbergCement with its German Climate and Environment Innovation Prize (IKU) for its ReConcrete-360° concrete recycling process. The process retrieves hardened cement paste from waste demolition concrete for use in place of limestone in clinker and cement production. The recycled material can also bind CO₂ to act as a carbon sink.

Global research and development Wolfgang Dienemann said “With ReConcrete-360°, we have succeeded in developing a limestone substitute from demolished concrete that also allows us to use the carbon-containing exhaust gases from cement production. A small revolution with a big impact: In Germany alone, the CO₂ savings potential of this process is 10Mt/yr. The IKU award underlines that we can be proud of our pioneering innovation.”

Canada: HeidelbergCement has announced its acquisition of a minority stake in concrete technology developer Giatec Scientific. The group says that, together, the partners will drive the development and adoption of industry-leading sensor technology and AI-driven software in order to reduce concrete’s carbon footprint and optimise processes for HeidelbergCement’s ready-mix concrete customers.

HeidelbergCement said “Giatec’s suite of proprietary smart sensors helps with accurate monitoring of concrete throughout its lifecycle, all the way from production to delivery and placement. Combined with sophisticated AI algorithms, which learn continuously from past and present data sets, the real- time sensor data enables concrete producers to optimise concrete mixes, with up to 20% cement reduction in certain applications.”