Vulcan Materials Company, the largest producer of construction aggregates in the US, has confirmed that Raleigh, North Carolina-based Martin Marietta Materials has made an unsolicited offer for the company.

Birmingham, Alabama-based Vulcan said it would “carefully review the proposal and determine the course of action that it believes is in the best interests of the company and its shareholders”.

BHP Billiton Energy Coal South Africa (BECSA) has entered into an empowerment transaction with a black-owned consortium led by Pembani Group, it announced today.

The consortium will effectively hold an eight per cent equity interest in BECSA, and also includes a Broad-Based Empowerment grouping. BECSA shareholders have also approved the implementation of an Employee Share Ownership Plan in which participating employees will hold a beneficial interest of two per cent equity in BECSA.

DTE Energy has awarded contracts worth more than $115 million to Michigan companies, as part of its Pure Michigan Business Connect Initiative commitment.

In the last six months, DTE Energy's supply chain management team has closed deals with three metropolitan Detroit renewable energy companies to provide wind and solar services.

Afferro Mining has agreed to sell its 38.5 per cent interest in its Putu iron ore project in Liberia to Russia’s second biggest steelmaker.

Severstal, one of the world’s leading vertically integrated steel and steel-related mining companies, already owns the remaining 61.5 per cent of Putu through its subsidiary, Lybica Holdings.

Afferro will receive a cash payment of $65 million on completion of the deal. It said it would use the funds from the sale to accelerate its development strategy for its 100 per cent owned Nkout iron ore project in Cameroon.

Boeing announced another major investment today in its Puget Sound site operations with the planned construction of a new, expanded Everett Delivery Center (EDC).

The EDC plays a critical role in Boeing's Everett site operations, serving as the hub for delivering 747, 767, 777 and 787 commercial airplanes.

Norwegian oil company Det norske has awarded Denmark-based Maersk Drilling with a three-year contract at its Draupne project.

Maersk Drilling is to supply the CJ-70 ultra harsh environment jack-up rig, XL Enhanced 2, presently under construction in Singapore, for development drilling on the Draupne field in the Norwegian North Sea.

The contract, awarded by Det norske on behalf of the Draupne licence, is for three years with options to extend up to seven years.

The total contract value for the three-year period is approximately $413 million.

Air Products and Dow Corning have entered a long-term supply agreement for electronic-grade silane, a material used for manufacturing flat panel displays, semiconductors and photovoltaic cells.

Dow Corning is a global leader in silicones and innovative silicon-based technology and the agreement will provide Air Products with access to significant silane volume to meet the present and future needs of its global customers, as well as the future growth of the electronics and solar industry.

Alan Swaby takes a look at an industrial brand that is almost as well known in the home as it is in the factory.

You know you are doing something right as a company when your brand name turns into a verb. Just as ‘to Google’ is synonymous in everyday speech with the act of searching for something on the internet, so too in some European dictionaries there is the verb ‘to Kärcher’—signifying cleaning down surfaces by means of pressurised water. 

Steel production in India may not match the volumes being produced in China but it is still a massive industry, as Alan Swaby learns in conversation with one of the most productive manufacturers in the country.

The Indian economic boom is such a hot topic of discussion in the media that we tend to think of it as a recent development. The quickening pace actually goes back to 1991, when the government opened up the economy to outside interests—but the seeds were sown even before that date.

Namibia Breweries Ltd (NBL) offers more than a winning portfolio of some of the region’s best-selling beers. Contracts manager Gideon Shilongo explains it is also setting the standard with a range of ground-breaking environmental initiatives.