New figures for deliveries of cement in the second quarter of 2010 show concreting tools were put to work on a greater amount of the building material.

In its latest official update, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) sees a sequential rise of almost a quarter (24 per cent) in deliveries of cementitious materials of all types.

Almost three million tonnes of cement were laid using concreting tools in the second quarter of the year, up from 2.35 million in the first quarter.

The three-month figure is also up compared with 2009, when just over 2.7 million tonnes of cement were laid in the second quarterly reporting period.

Cementitious materials included in the report comprise cement, ground granulated blast-furnace slag and pulverised fuel ash.

BIS compiles statistics on building materials on a monthly basis, with quarterly and annual updates also issued by the government department on imports and exports.

Posted by Jude Whitehouse