May 16, 2022 – Holcim will use cash raised from the sale of its Indian business for acquisitions focused on building products and solutions, Chief Executive Jan Jenisch said. “At the moment we have around 10 transactions being checked by us, being negotiated by us. They are small transactions, they are bigger transactions,” Jenisch told a reporter from Reuters. “We…
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‘Blast-off’ for Hillhead 2022
May 10, 2022 – The starting gun has been fired for Hillhead 2022, which takes place in Derbyshire, England, from June 21-23. Carried out by EPC-UK, two sections of the quarry face in the demonstration area at the north end of the site were recently drilled and blasted to produce around 30,000 tonnes of run-of-quarry stone for equipment demonstration purposes…
Read MoreAggregates Plant Hidden Underwater
May 6, 2022 – National media sources were recently abuzz with the news that a barrel with a body in it was discovered in Lake Mead, Nev., as a result of the water level receding. But did you know there is an aggregates and concrete plant submerged in the lake too? The plant was built in the 1930s to supply the…
Read MoreHill Sees Bright Year Ahead
May 3, 2022 – Vulcan Materials just reported a big first quarter, with total revenues increasing 44% to $1.541 billion. Regarding the company’s full-year outlook, Tom Hill, Vulcan Materials’ chairman and chief executive officer said, “We reiterate our full-year Adjusted EBITDA range of $1.72 to $1.82 billion. In the first quarter, we capitalized on the considerable momentum in our business, growing…
Read MoreMartin Marietta Update
May 3, 2022 – Martin Marietta Materials consolidated revenues crossed the billion-dollar mark in the first quarter of this year, according to its just-released report. Now that is a great start to the year, increased costs notwithstanding. The company also reiterated these “portfolio optimization” efforts that were recently reported. On March 1, the company announced a definitive agreement to sell its Redding…
Read MoreThe Aggregates Atlas is Live!
Rock Products’ Aggregates Atlas “maps issue” has served the industry for more than 20 years, but an entirely new digital Aggregates Atlas has been launched to provide the aggregates industry with an easier-to-use design and even more useful information. Powered by Burgex Inc.’s Mineralocity platform, the new Rock Products Aggregates Atlas is one more way that we work to serve the industry’s needs.
Read MoreCalifornia Recycling Bill Advances
April 22, 2022 – CalCIMA’s Construction Material Recycling Bill Passed its First Committee Without Opposition. CalCIMA’s Charley Rea and several member companies testified on behalf of Assemblymember Rudy Salas’ AB 2953 promoting increased recycling of construction materials in pavements at the local level. The legislation would both decrease pavement costs and carbon emissions for pavements statewide. As the Assemblyman pointed…
Read MoreSimonson Says
April 18, 2022 – Ken Simonson, Associated General Contractors economist, noted that construction input costs outpaced bid prices again in March, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data. The producer price index (PPI) for material and service inputs to new nonresidential construction jumped 2.7% for the month and 21.5% year-over-year (y/y). The PPI for new nonresidential building construction – a measure of the price that…
Read MoreHow Ending Mining Would Change the World
April 14, 2022 – There is a pretty fascinating article from the BBC that asks the question, what if we stopped extraction of fossil fuels and minerals entirely? What if, in order to better protect the environment, humanity decided the contents of the Earth’s crust were off limits? It’s an unlikely scenario, to be sure, and one that would cause hardship…
Read MoreNRMCA Update
April 13, 2022 – The National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA) estimated ready mixed concrete produced in January 2022 at 24.4 million cu. yds., 1% lower than that in January 2021. Ready mixed concrete production is estimated from cement shipments reported by the U.S. Geological Survey.
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