US: Cemex has celebrated the 50th anniversary of its Balcones Quarry in New Braunfels, Texas with an event attended by Cemex USA Regional President - Texas and New Mexico Region Joel Galassini, and which included a planned quarry blast.

Balcones Quarry began operations in 1968. Cemex purchased the quarry along with the neighbouring cement plant in 1994. The quarry currently processes more than 10Mt/yr of crushed limestone annually and supports infrastructure, residential and commercial projects across Texas. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) recently ranked the quarry as the top crushed stone producer in the country in terms of volume.

In 2016 the site opened a water recycling plant at the quarry to cut reliance on local water sources. Recently, Cemex opened its Wildlife Habitat Centre adjacent to the quarry to promote conservation and sustainability. The centre includes about 17 acres of restored prairie, pollinator gardens and meadows planted with native plants. An education centre and wheelchair-accessible produce garden are also on the site.

Russia: Lipetskcement, a subsidiary of Eurocement, has added Eurocem 500 Extra to its product portfolio over the current construction season. The CEM II / А-W 42.5Н strength cement uses mineral additives to offer lower production costs, higher strength and higher corrosion resistance and water resistance. The product is offered in bagged and bulk consignments.

Oman: Oman Cement has launched a new brand identity and logo. The changes to its marketing are intended convey its strong brand value proposition that is synonymous with quality, strength and reliability, according to the Muscat Daily newspaper. The new brand identity is hoped to help the company’s sales and market share.

Russia: Pervaya Stroitelnaya Kompaniya (PSK) plans to build a 1.2Mt/yr cement plant in the Petrovsky district of the Tambov region. The project has an investment of Euro126m, according to the Kommersant newspaper. The unit will use the Borisovsky deposit for its raw materials. PSK previously purchased the licence to develop the mine from Tambov-Cement company. The project is scheduled to be built from 2019 to 2025 in several stages.