With the economy improving, business is growing for residential and commercial concrete contractors who can deliver the quality required. Realtor.com’s 2016 forecast sees new construction driving the highest home sales since 2006, with 6 million transactions projected. A recent Forbes report forecasts that housing construction and home prices climbing in 2016 and 2017.
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Portland Cement Association’s European counterpart adds valuable perspective to a cement production and climate change dialog, responding to critics of member companies’ European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) participation.
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Sources: Iowa State University Extension, Ames; CP staff
Organizers of the First Interactive Symposium on Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC), July 18-20 in Des Moines, Iowa, envision a platform to share material and structural design knowledge, application examples and opportunities, and means of growing UHPC practice.
Read MoreSources: Associated Builders and Contractors, Washington, D.C.; CP staff
The ABC 2016 Safety Performance Report — Understanding the Impact of Safety Training Evaluation Process (STEP) Participation documents proactive practices’ potential to reduce recordable incidents up to 86 percent, making the best-performing builders and contractors 700-plus percent safer than the industry average. Six leading indicators have the most dramatic impact: substance abuse program; new hire and site-specific safety orientations; toolbox talks; near-miss/near-hit analysis; and, site safety committee.
Read MoreSources: CP staff; Martin Marietta Materials, Raleigh, N.C.; Vulcan Materials Co., Birmingham, Ala.
In the wake of solid first quarter earnings and bullish shipment and pricing outlook for the remainder of 2016, Martin Marietta and Vulcan Materials saw their New York Stock Exchange-traded shares close the first week of May approaching record highs.
Read MoreSources: Office of Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID); American Wood Council, Leesburg, Va.; CP staff
Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) have introduced the Timber Innovation Act (S.2982) to “help accelerate research and development—and ultimately construction—of wood buildings in the United States [and] focus on finding innovative ways to use wood in the construction of buildings above 85 feet in height or roughly seven or more stories.”
Read MoreSources: HeidelbergCement AG, Heidelberg, Germany; CP staff
Lehigh Hanson Inc. and Essroc Cement Corp. integration is one step closer as the merger of parent companies HeidelbergCement and Italcementi S.p.A. paces a scheduled mid-summer closing. During the HeidelbergCement 2016 General Meeting, May 4 in Heidelberg, management informed shareholders of Competition Bureau of Canada approval and impending U.S. Federal Trade Commission clearance of a combined Lehigh Hanson and Essroc Cement business.
Read MoreSources: LafargeHolcim Ltd., Jona, Switzerland; CP staff
Looking beyond rationalized cement capacity and integrated concrete and aggregate production assets, LafargeHolcim aims to make its mark in the global construction supply chain as part of a new sustainability initiative, The 2030 Plan.
Read MoreSources: Summit Materials Inc., Denver; CP staff
Summit Materials has acquired Sierra Ready Mix, LLC, which serves the Las Vegas market from one sand & gravel pit and two concrete plants. The deal brings the suitor’s largest integrated materials and road-building business, Kilgore Companies, into a fourth state, Nevada, alongside Utah, Idaho and Wyoming.
Read MoreSources: Cemex S.A.B. de C.V., Monterrey, Mexico; Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua, S.A.B. de C.V., Chihuahua, Mexico; CP staff
Cemex has announced an agreement in principle to sell to GCC its Odessa, Texas, and Lyons, Colo. cement plants, with 1 million metric tons’ combined annual capacity; one Colorado and two Texas cement terminals; plus, ready mixed, aggregate and building materials businesses in El Paso, Texas, and Las Cruces, N.M.
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