Materials

In 2014 Zoomlion-owned Cifa plans to manufacture a further 15 of its innovative hybrid Energya 8 and 9 plug-in truck mixer prototypes to add to its two existing models. The globally renowned concrete equipment sector firm also aims to sell the first of these new plug-in truck mixer models next year. Among the new machines and equipment resulting from a €2 million-a-year R&D investment in Cifa and Zoomlion products over the last five years, the Energya 8 and 9 models, the latter of which was launched at bau

Located 40km north of Panama City, Panama Development of Infrastructure (PDI) is assisting the Petaquilla Gold Mine, part of Petaquilla Minerals, in producing high quality aggregates from excavated materials at the mine. In order to support the activities of Petaquilla Minerals, the only mining company currently operating in Panama, PDI is using a selection of Sandvik drilling, crushing and screening equipment, all manufactured by, which has been supplied, and is supported by, Sandvik’s distributor in Pana

The Ammann Group has acquired concrete plant manufacturer Elba in a move said to ‘round off’ the Group’s portfolio, while also representing an ideal complement to Ammann’s existing asphalt plant and machine divisions. Founded in 1948, Elba is based in Ettlingen, Germany and is considered a much-respected producer of high-quality concrete mixing plants. Ammann will complete the actual purchase process at the beginning of March 2014 once the acquisition has been approved by the cartel authorities. The Elba

In Colombia a big debate is in hand between producers of asphalt and concrete as to which is best for building roads. Colombia has a major programme for road construction with some US$23.54 billion planned to be invested over the next 10 years. Large producers such as Holcim, Cemex and Argos, which sell most of the 11 million tonnes/year of cement consumed in Colombia are involved actively in the debate. Cement firms have estimated that the 15 road projects that are most advanced will need some 8 million to

Metso's Indian-manufactured Nordwheeler portable crushing and screening plants are said to be playing an important role in a number of road and other construction infrastructure projects in Asia and Africa. During a short period of time, Metso has sold over 30 portable Nordwheeler plants to Asian and African-based aggregates producers. The plants are manufactured in Metso's factory in Bawal, India – earlier this year reaching the milestone of 1,000 Indian-manufactured portable plants.

Dennis Lysemose Andersen, senior oil risk manager at Global Risk Management, explained: "Bitumen hedging safeguards the economics of the company, whether it is a consumer or producer of bitumen. Looking at the consumer side as an example; an asphalt company may be involved in a large infrastructure project, where the company needs to offer a fixed price to the contractor – maybe a state-owned Road Agency – but only later can it source the bitumen. Thus the asphalt company is exposed to bitumen costs increas

Asia’s emerging economies will be building roads for the next two decades, delegates at a recent Argus Asian Bitumen conference in Singapore heard. That means there are big opportunities for suppliers of bitumen, related technology and risk management companies - Kristina Smith reports One of the strongest messages to emerge from the Argus Asian Bitumen conference held in Singapore earlier this year is the sheer volume of road building planned in the region. For many countries there are political and finan