Kyrgyzstan: Member of parliament Karamat Orozova has proposed setting up a commission to examine building a new cement plant in the Batken region. She has proposed allocating land and loans for local businesses to build a new unit, according to the Central Asia News Service. The politician has criticised the decision to place the South-Kyrgyz Cement (SKC) plant in the Osh region of the country given the neighbouring problems in Batken. The 1Mt/yr SKC plant was built in 2010 with Italcementi.

Spain: FYM-HeidelbergCement has reached a record two years without an accident at its Malaga cement plant. The milestone also includes no accidents for subcontractors working at the site. The company has operated a ‘Zero Accident’ program since 2000 that has focused on improving the safety culture for all staff.

Cyprus: Vassiliko Cement has presented a new low hydration heat cement product, Portland Pozzolana Cement CEM II/A-P 42,5N-LH, to local clients. The new product will be launched in early October 2018. It will be targeted at larger construction projects, such as footing or dams, where the company says it will prevent the formation of micro-cracks in concrete.

Egypt: The UK’s Vortex Global Limited has appointed Alriad International Agencies & Trading as its new agent in Egypt. Alriad operates in the pharmaceutical, cosmetics, chemical, commodities, fast-moving consumer goods and textile industries.

Alriad’s existing product portfolio includes a wide range of goods including: fine mesh separation technology, vibratory sieves, separators, ultrasonic mesh deblending systems and liquid filters from Russell Finex; packaging equipment from Webb Automation (GWA); industrial milling and crushing equipment. Grinding plants, industrial mills, pre-grinding plants, crushers, homogenisers and separators (compact- and industrial-scale); and metal detectors, metal separators, x-ray inspection systems from Mesutronic. With the addition of Vortex Global product portfolio, Alriad will offer slide gates, diverter valves, loading solutions, and engineered solutions for the dry solids handling industries.