Amid strong market conditions, cement, aggregate and concrete producers face logistics challenges ranging from unpredictable supply chain disruptions and driver shortages to new sustainability mandates for reducing carbon emissions in product transport and common variants. The latter include narrow delivery time windows, ad-hoc orders, and last minute cancellations. Then there is the matter of manual or spreadsheet-based planning processes, which…
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Arcosa Utility Structures to add Ameron Pole Products
Sources: Arcosa Inc., Dallas; CP staff Aggregate, barge and utility structures producer Arcosa Inc. has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Ameron Pole Products LLC from Houston-based NOV Inc. The $180 million cash deal involves four Alabama, California and Oklahoma operations offering prestressed concrete or steel poles for a broad range of infrastructure applications, including lighting, traffic, electric distribution, and…
Read MoreBMC Enterprises becomes U.S. gateway for U.K. operator Breedon
Sources: Breedon Group Plc, Derby, United Kingdom; CP staff London Stock Exchange-traded aggregate, cement, concrete and masonry producer Breedon Group plans an early-March closing of a $300 million deal for St. Louis-based BMC Enterprises Inc. The transaction affords the suitor a North American market platform with 44 ready mixed concrete and five precast plants, plus five crushed stone and seven…
Read MoreInstrumental Workhorse
The past decade’s top two mergers in North American cement, aggregate and concrete—Lafarge Group + Holcim Ltd. and HeidelbergCement AG + Italcementi S.p.A.—have spurred realignment of markets up the Atlantic Seaboard, across the Great Lakes and down the Mississippi. Of all the markets those deals and their asset divestitures impacted, none stands out quite like Toronto, where a case study…
Read MoreMeet the Women in Ready Mixed Concrete Technology
October is Careers in Construction Month, and an excellent opportunity to build your workforce by introducing women to the concrete industry (and concrete tech jobs). Hedy Lamarr, best known as a beautiful actress during Hollywood’s Golden Age, was a brilliant thinker. She co-invented a frequency-hopping system used to prevent Axis powers from jamming torpedoes during World War II, which later…
Read MoreProducers – July 2023
Vulcan Materials Co. was named as one of the top 200 Best Companies to Work For by U.S. News and World Report, concurrent with the producer’s inclusion in the 2023 Fortune 500 list of U.S. companies. When compiling the former list, U.S. News editors factor quality of pay and benefits; work/life balance and flexibility; job and company stability; physical and…
Read MoreKNF rings in post-MDU era to New York Stock Exchange cheers
“Our team is well-established and prepared to be on our own as a pure-play construction materials and contracting services company,” said CEO Brian Gray, speaking on behalf of nearly 6,000 Knife River aggregate, concrete, asphalt and construction professionals. “We are focused on building America’s infrastructure and delivering long-term value for our shareholders.” “Completing the spinoff of Knife River brings us…
Read MoreKnife River marks MDU split with ringing of NYSE Opening Bell
Sources: Knife River Corp., Bismarck, N.D.; CP staff Knife River Corp. has successfully completed a spinoff from longtime parent company, MDU Resources Group Inc., and announced a new name to replace an interim identity, Knife River Holding Co., adopted for a 10-month separation process. Against a backdrop of signature orange and KNF trading symbol, Knife River officials assembled above the…
Read MoreCemex turns page on 1990s signature
Sources: Cemex S.A.B. de C.V., Monterrey, Mexico; CP staff Cemex has unveiled an updated brand consistent with a corporate goal of helping the world reach the next frontier of sustainable living by becoming a more agile, innovative, and approachable company. The global cement, aggregate and concrete producer is changing its logo for the first time in more than 30 years,…
Read MoreCalPortland asks the Supreme Court to draw a line on union recklessness
The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments this term involving one of the West Coast’s top cement, aggregate and ready mixed concrete players (note Government Affairs, page 11). CalPortland Co. counsel will demonstrate why justices should reverse a Washington State Supreme Court decision shielding International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 174 from liability in a 2017 Seattle plant stunt…
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