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Ashraf El-Kahky appointed as managing director of ASEC
Written by Global Cement staff
06 January 2021
Egypt: Cement Engineering and consultancy company ASEC has appointed Ashraf El-Kahky as its managing director. It follows the retirement of Khaled El-Sebaie, who has been in post for eight years. El-Sebaie will continue to work for the company as a technical consultant.
El-Kahky joined ASEC Group as the Group Chief Financial Officer in September 2019. He brings over 30 years of experience from roles in financial management, risk management, strategic planning and restructuring, having previously held leading roles in several national and multinational organisations.
World Cement Association appoints heads of PPC and Dalmia Cement as directors
Written by Global Cement staff
06 January 2021
UK: The World Cement Association has appointed Roland van Wijnen, the chief executive officer (CEO) of PPC, and Mahendra Singhi, the managing director and CEO of Dalmia Cement, as directors. The appointments were agreed in a vote at the WCA General Assembly Meeting in December 2020.
Singhi has worked in India’s cement sector for over 40 years. He leads Dalmia Cement (Bharat), a large Indian cement producer recognised as having one of the lowest carbon footprints in the world.
Van Wijnen brings more than 20 years of international CEO and consulting experience encompassing operations management, strategy planning and execution, business process re-engineering and people management and development. Prior to his role as CEO at PPC, a large African cement producer, he worked at LafargeHolcim for 17 years, during which time he held various senior leadership roles across the group.
Gopi Neupane appointed director general of Udayapur Cement
Written by Global Cement staff
06 January 2021
Nepal: Udayapur Cement has appointed Gopi Neupane as its director general. He holds experience in the hydro-electric, health and education sectors, according to Khabarhub. The state-owned cement producer markets the ‘Gaida Cement’ brand.
India: LafargeHolcim subsidiary ACC has commissioned a new 1.4Mt/yr unit at its Sindri cement grinding plant in Jharkhand. The plant now commands a total grinding capacity of 4.4Mt/yr. The company began work on the expansion in December 2019 in order to strengthen its presence in the Eastern region. It said that the state government and local authorities aided smooth commissioning.
LafargeHolcim India chief executive officer (CEO) and non-executive director ACC Limited Neeraj Akhoury said, "Strong ambition aimed at deliverance of high performance is what guided ACC to establish the commissioning of the Sindri GU-Phase-II within a record period.” He added, “I am proud of the flexibility and agility demonstrated by the team."
ACC managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) Sridhar Balakrishnan said, “The commitment, meticulous planning and collaborative approach by the Project Sindri team in these unprecedented times and commencing the cement production in a record time have set a new benchmark for ACC.”
US: A US court has fined Argos USA US$20m for violations of antitrust rules between 2011 and 2016 with regards to the ready-mixed concrete market. The subsidiary of Columbia-based Cementos Argos subsidiary has admitted to collusion with another ready-mix producer. The US Department of Justice says that the companies coordinated price rises, submitted collusive non-competitive bids to customers, allocated markets in Southern Georgia and elsewhere and charged fuel surcharges and environmental fees.
Argos says the conspiracy was committed by, “a small number of former employees of a small, local sales office” that joined Argos when it acquired another company, according to Reuters. It added that its management “did not participate in or condone the conduct, which was undertaken in contravention of company compliance policies.”