Source: IEEE West Coast The 2011 IEEE West Coast Conference Committee has assembled an informative technical session focusing on the latest issues affecting the cement industry. Set for Oct. 13-14, this year’s conference will take place in Texarkana, Texas, central to a large number of cement facilities. The event provides the opportunity and the technical venue where vendors and cement…
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PCA economist: Debt crisis could usher 13 percent cement consumption drop over 2011-12
Sources: Portland Cement Association, Skokie, Ill.; Staff reports Inaction by Congress and the White House on the federal debt ceiling could derail the fragile U.S. economic recovery, spurring a second recession and adversely impacting cement shipments, according to a recent PCA report. A federal default stemming from the absence of a higher debt ceiling would affect business, consumer and bank…
Read MoreTop two TXI shareholders’ stake surpasses 40 percent
Sources: Securities & Exchange Commission; Staff reports A series of late-June trades has positioned Memphis-based Southeast Asset Management Inc. and its Longleaf Partners Small-Cap Fund with nearly 5.8 million of Texas Industries’ approximately 27.9 million outstanding shares of common stock. The trades were completed at just under $40/share—versus a July 5 closing price of $41.90—and consolidate a Southeast Asset/Longleaf TXI…
Read MoreCampaign advances life-cycle budgeting in infrastructure policy
Sources: Portland Cement Association, Skokie, Ill.; Staff reports A two-week print and online PCA ad campaign, themed “What Are the Real Costs” and targeted to political and policy opinion leaders in Washington, D.C., aims to elevate cradle-to-grave project cost factors in transportation and infrastructure funding. The ads appeared through July 1 in Rollcall and CQ Daily print editions and in…
Read MoreLafarge emphasizes transportation, mobile equipment during Health & Safety Month
Source: Lafarge North America, Reston, Va. Each June, Lafarge facilities across North America and at its sister company sites around the world celebrate Health & Safety Month, renewing the company’s commitment to the health and safety of their employees, contractors, families and local communities with a month’s worth of awareness-raising activities and events. From healthy meals and fitness challenges to…
Read MoreCement Totals— April 2011
Source: U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Va. Total shipments of portland and blended cement in the United States and Puerto Rico were about 5.7 million mt in April 2011, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. This was 14.0 percent lower compared with shipments for April 2010. Total shipments for the year through April were approximately 18.3 million mt, about 2 percent…
Read MoreArizona’s Drake Cement consummates Peruvian parent’s U.S. entry
Sources: Drake Cement, Scottsdale, Ariz.; Cementos Lima, S.A., Peru; Staff reports Officials of the Southwest’s newest integrated player held a mid-June grand opening for a $300 million, 600,000-plus tons/year capacity cement plant in northern Arizona. More than 10 years in the making, Drake Cement is located in Yavapai County, near the historic rail town of Paulden and 35 miles north…
Read MoreCemex to cut 2,800 jobs worldwide
Source: Reuters.com Mexico-based construction materials giant Cemex is planning to cut 6% of its workforce worldwide as part of a wider reorganization. Reuters reported the world’s third-largest cement maker said it hopes to generate $400 million in additional cash flow by the end of 2012 through cutting costs and improving underperforming businesses. The company employs about 46,500 people across the…
Read MoreCementos Argos becomes second major stakeholder in Class C ash formulator Ceratech
Sources: Ceratech Inc., Alexandria, Va.; Staff reports Only three months after announcing that third-largest coal producer Alpha Natural Resources had acquired a 10.3 percent of its business (with an option to increase the stake to 28.3 under certain future terms), Ceratech has accepted another strategic equity investment from Colombian cement giant Cementos Argos, the fourth-largest U.S. concrete producer. The buy-in…
Read More$225K EPA grant moves recycled glass cement substitute toward market
Sources: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Staff reports On the heels of research detailed in its “Value-Added Use of Milled Mixed-Color Waste Glass as a Supplementary Cementitious Material in Environmentally Friendly and Energy-Efficient Concrete Building Construction” report, Lansing, Mich.-based Technova Corp. is among 10 recipients sharing $2.25 million in grants under the EPA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.
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