Argentina: Holcim Argentina has developed the Ultraseries range of 11 concretes for various applications to be produced at its Malagueño plant in Cordoba. José Villacreses, Holcim Argentina general manager of concretes, said “We aim to facilitate a leap in productivity, aesthetics and costs, with comprehensive solutions,” according to La Voz.

The company has announced that its upgraded 3.1Mt/yr Malagueño cement plant will be inaugurated in February 2020.

France: Vicat has sold Euro2.06bn-worth of cement in the nine months to 30 September 2019, up by 5.7% year-on-year from Euro1.95bn in the corresponding period of 2018. Its cement section’s sales lagged behind concrete and aggregates, with a rise of 4.5% to Euro991m from Euro948m in the nine months to 30 September 2018. “The Group’s strategy of raising prices is paying off in almost all operating regions, while energy costs fell,” said Vicat Group Chairman and CEO Guy Sidos. He expects exchange rate gains to pay dividends in the final quarter, notably in Turkey.

India: JK Cement is awaiting environmental clearance to commence construction of a 2.0Mt/yr grinding plant at Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh. The project has been valued at US$37.5m. Domex has reported that FLSmidth is in the process supplying machinery to the facility, for which civil work has been completed. Its 2.0Mt/yr Ordinary Portland and Portland Pozzolana Cement production capacity will bring JK Cement’s installed capacity to 12.9Mt/yr. It already grinds 3.0Mt/yr of clinker at its Mudhol grinding plant near Bagalkot in Karnataka.

UK: A fire broke out at Cemex’s 1.8Mt/yr integrated Rugby plant at 02:00 on 6 November 2019. BBC News has reported that operations were unaffected and none of the plant’s 180 employees injured by the fire, which was caused by a mechanical malfunction in a machine belt conveying raw materials. The fire spread over three floors of the plant’s preheater tower.